The Exploration Seminar organized in conjunction with the 3rd Progress Meeting of the EU funded H2020 NEXT project in Rovaniemi, Finland during 7 to 10 October 2019, brought the opportunity to organize interviews with the representatives from 11 Finnish and Swedish exploration companies. The interviews served to collect their views on possible links between the novel, environmentally friendly exploration technologies that are being developed in NEXT and the Social Licence to ‘Explore’ concept. Participants in the Exploration Seminar also joined in a field excursion to the Raja prospect in the Peräpohja Belt of Finland.