Construction & Mining
THE PRIMARY BENEFITS AND USE CASES FOR DRONES IN MINING As in many industries where drones are used, one of the biggest benefits drones provide to mining is improved safety.
M
ining work is inherently dangerous. Materials in areas that have recently been excavated, called stopes, can shift and move, making them too dangerous for personnel to enter; blast sites can present uncertain conditions, making them hazardous to walk on foot; and even the surface of a mine can become unstable if there are problems underground, and potentially lead to a sudden collapse that could endanger those in the area. But safety is only one of the ways drones are helping to improve work in mining. Here’s a list of all the benefits drones present to mining operations: Improved safety. Using drones to collect visual data on the status of potentially volatile areas of a mine, like highwalls, crests, and inside stopes, as well as blast sites, means fewer people are exposed to those dangers. Improved savings. Using drones to capture visual data inside of a stope can help identify remaining ore and geotechnical areas of interest, which could lead to additional revenue. Improved data. Capturing HD 4K video and high res images of a mine can help engineers and safety personnel do their jobs better, and create a historical record of the mine that can be used for future planning. Improved efficiency. Mining companies can use visual data captured by drone to quickly share the status of an ongoing operation with stakeholders.
So What Kinds of Work Are Drones Doing in Mining Operations? In general, drones are being used in mining to capture raw visual data. This data can then be converted into several different outputs, including detailed photos, videos, 3D maps, and orthomosaics.
4. Blast engineering
Here are some of the main ways these outputs are being used in mining operations:
5. Stockpile inventory monitoring
Blast sites can be dangerous immediately following a detonation, presenting potential hazards to mining personnel. Using a drone, detailed aerial data can be collected for a post-blast inspection to ensure that the site is safe before anyone enters it to continue work.
Detailed aerial data can help companies understand the elevation and contours of a mine so that they can do accurate planning.
As drone software and technology improves, the ability to conduct accurate stockpile volumetry measurements completely by drone continues to develop. Using drones to inventory large stockpiles of mined materials poses a significant improvement over more manual methods, which are slow, cumbersome, and often inaccurate.
2. Optimizing site development
6. Mapping the inside of mines
1. Mine planning
Once a mining operation is underway, drone data can ensure that the site is being used in an optimal manner, with ongoing progress reports helping personnel identify ways that operations could be made more efficient or safer.
3. Environmental monitoring
3D maps created with aerial data can help monitor the impact a mining operation is having on the surrounding environment in real time, allowing mining companies to reduce their impact and ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
Using special indoor commercial drones like Flyability’s Elios 2, which can fly in confined environments without GPS, mining operations have been able to start successfully creating 3D maps of the inside of mines. This use case is still relatively new, and the maps produced are not always perfect, but the value these maps can provide in terms of safety and enhanced situational awareness is immense. https://uavcoach.com/drones-mining All Drones in Namibia (commercial, hobby or recreational) must be registered with the Namibian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). contact: 0816682855 to hire a drone
2020 - Construction & Mining Magazine
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