By Marley Palin, Head of Xplor

There a handful of weeks each year that really remind me why I love Xplor. Bootcamp is one of them. It’s my favourite week of the program because it’s the moment the cohort comes off the page. Out of the press release, out of the headshots, and suddenly into a room full of real people. Asking questions. Challenging each other. Sharing stories. Starting to build something together. That’s when Xplor really begins.

Watch the cohort in action here.

This year, we were lucky enough to launch the BHP Xplor 2026 cohort in sunny Cape Town, the week before Mining Indaba. We chose South Africa very deliberately. Africa is going to play a huge role in the future discovery pipeline, and over the last few years we’ve seen genuine momentum and maturity build across the African exploration ecosystem. Bringing the cohort here allowed us to ground the program in that reality from day one.

Setting the foundations of Xplor
Bootcamp is a full week focused on setting the foundations for the year ahead. The Xplor program is built on three pillars: business, technical, and operational. Bootcamp is where we lay those foundations together.

We kicked off with business strategy. Our Xplor business coach, Jeremy Drum, led a series of workshops grounded in the Playing to Win and cascaded choices frameworks. These sessions are always a reset. They force teams to pause, lift their heads up from the detail, and think clearly about where they are choosing to play, how they are choosing to win, and what that really means for the year ahead.

From there, we went deep into mineral systems. Over two days, John Miller our Technical coach introduced to BHP’s mineral systems framework. Working alongside their BHP Exploration sponsors, the teams mapped their projects against that framework and began shaping what their work programs could look like across the Xplor period. You can almost see the thinking shift in these sessions as ideas start to connect back to real rocks, real data, and real decisions.

Safety and risk are also core to we work BHP. We anchored this part of the week in what really matters: getting home safely to our friends and family at the end of each day. Adam Webb, Head of Exploration Operations, opened with a powerful safety share that grounded the conversation in reality. From there, the cohort worked through risk fundamentals, community engagement, and environmental considerations, building awareness of the types of challenges they will face as they move from concept to field.

Our technology companies also had dedicated sessions focused on technology-specific risks, including data and cyber, recognising that while the risks may differ, the expectation around discipline and care does not.

Big conversations, grounded in context
Two moments really stood out for me during the week.

The first was a fireside chat with Rohitesh Dhawan, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Council on Mining and Metals. Rohitesh brought a thoughtful and honest perspective on the role of mining in a changing world. The conversation ranged from responsible discovery through to trust, partnerships, and long-term value creation, and it sparked some of the most engaged discussion of the week.

The second highlight was a panel discussion with South African leaders, held in the context of BHP’s recently signed MOU with the Council for Geoscience. The MOU is focused on strengthening collaboration to enrich geoscience data, unlock legacy datasets, and build shared capability across the exploration ecosystem.

The discussion reinforced just how important partnerships, local capability, and data accessibility are to successful exploration, and it grounded the cohort’s work firmly within the South African context.

Coaches, connections, and community
Bootcamp is intense, but some of the most valuable moments happen outside the formal sessions. Each company met one-on-one with their business, technical, and leadership coaches during the week. These early conversations are critical. They set expectations, build trust, and lay the groundwork for the virtual phase of the program.

And of course, there was time to get out and about in Cape Town. Sharing meals, exploring the city, and simply getting to know each other beyond the projects. That’s where the Xplor community really starts to form.

By the end of the week, the cohort no longer felt like a list of companies. It felt like a collective. A group with shared language, shared ambition, and a clear sense of the journey ahead.

The Xplor 2026 journey is officially underway, and I couldn’t be more excited to see where this cohort takes it.