Mining company BHP and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will co-host the first in a series of workshops to promote and support greater intelligence and collaboration in minerals exploration in key mining jurisdictions in sub-Saharan Africa.
BHP will hold additional sessions in the coming weeks in Namibia, Angola and Zambia.
The mining company is directing these sessions at junior mining and exploration companies, as well as academic institutions in these regions that maintain strong geoscience, mining engineering, and innovation programmes.
BHP has also extended invitations to geological surveys, national geoscience bodies, and research centres focusing on new exploration technologies to attend.
The sessions aim to share BHP’s view of global mineral systems, exploration methodology, and geoscience data schema, while also strengthening relationships across key institutions to support future exploration in the region.
Xplor programme
The sessions will also provide an introduction to BHP’s Xplor programme for junior mining and exploration companies, as well as to innovative thinkers in exploration, academic institutions, and geological surveys.
BHP Xplor is a nine-month accelerator programme for early-stage mineral exploration companies and mining innovators.
It provides $500,000 in equity-free funding, along with hands-on technical, commercial, and operational support.
BHP designed the programme to help explorers fast-track promising concepts into viable projects that can contribute to the minerals needed for the energy transition.
BHP’s head of global generative exploration, Dr Cam McCuaig, as well as senior members of the BHP exploration team, will lead the workshops.
McCuaig said, “The objective of the workshops is to provide insights into BHP’s global exploration approach and identify mutual opportunities for collaboration.
“We also want to create greater awareness of BHP Xplor, and support innovative projects to bolster exploration in the region”.
The JSE’s primary markets: equity origination manager, Patrycja Kula-Verster, added, "Capital formation in mining starts long before market entry.
“By co-hosting this workshop with BHP, the JSE is supporting the capabilities and collaboration needed to build a stronger pipeline of quality mining investment across the region”.
Unlocking new insights
The 2025 BHP Xplor programme includes Orion Minerals Limited.
Orion Minerals is a JSE-listed South African exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and zinc assets.
Orion’s executive: exploration, John Paul Hunt, commented, “Xplor, for us, has been a validation of our strategic positioning in and vision for the Northern Cape in South Africa, and has been an excellent conversation starter with our current and future partners.
“It’s already helping us to accelerate our thinking about our future resources”.
BHP and the South African Council for Geoscience recently signed a strategic partnership to collaborate on geoscientific data and accelerate mineral exploration using advanced digital tools.
This partnership establishes a framework for joint research, data sharing, and exploration initiatives to unlock new insights from decades of geological data.
