AUTOMATION REVOLUTION: Drones in Mining
World’s largest and the most prevalent mining firms have been looking forward to the AUTOMATION REVOLUTION; that is, investing a large amount of resources in finding dedicated technological solutions to increase efficiency, improve efficiency and restructure various operations taking place in the mining industry. Mining companies are coming up with new ways to use drones in the industry, including exploration, surveying, mapping, and safety maintenance with security enhancement.
With mining sites across Australasia and Africa showing substantial dissemination by drones, the popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across the mining industry has grown swiftly in recent years. Figures show that 70% of the mining majors have trialled drones since 2016.
More enhancements and developments in autonomous drone technology could make it safer, cheaper and more effective, which would be welcome for an industry that is often criticized over health and safety issues.
Additionally, global mining industry leaders have agreed to co-operate on a blockchain scheme led by the World Economic Forum (WEF), in an effort to accelerate responsible sourcing and sustainability practices.
Given below are the five major key trends which influence drone technology usage in the mining industry:
INSPECTION AND MONITORING:
Mining is said to be one of the most unsafe industrial arena for workers. As they are subjected to hazards such as rock falls, extremely humid conditions, gas leaks, dust explosions and floods. Therefore, mining companies have used drones in underground mines to monitor and inspect deep shafts. Drones are being employed to inspect mining equipment, which is an expensive and time-consuming process, and requires a skilful workforce. Data collection and inspection can also be done using the same UAVs.
AUTOMATED SURVEYING AND MAPPING:
Surveying using drones can be extremely helpful as it reduces field time and survey costs, provides accurate and exhaustive data, and maps otherwise manually inaccessible areas. Drones capture aerial data with downward-facing sensors, such as RGB or multi-spectral cameras, and LIDAR payloads. During a drone survey, the ground is photographed several times from different angles, and each image is tagged with coordinates.
ANALYZING AND MANAGING STOCKPILES:
Stockpile management is a critical requirement on any job site, be it construction, mining or any other aggregated business. But measuring stockpiles can be unsafe, time-consuming, and expensive. Accuracy is extremely important to run certain operations, but manual analysis and management in the mining fields for hours to clamber across stockpiles on a dangerous job site is unfavourable.
Drones help gather the same survey data in minutes from the safety of the ground, all while achieving higher accuracy and freeing up manual engagements, which might be further required in other higher priority projects.
HAULAGE OPTIMIZATION:
Aerial images of the site enable regular visual assessment of the state of haul roads as well. This provides effective data such as length, slope and turning angles. With this information, the optimization of haul roads can be done by accounting for the specifications that cut fuel costs while ensuring that your mine is within the planning and regulatory requirements. In general, drone data helps ensure that roads are built to design and that they meet certain significant legal standards.
PREVENTING TAILINGS-DAM FAILURES:
Tailings dams are large containment structures designed to hold the waste — slurry or tailings — from mining processing operations, on a permanent basis. But when they fail, the results can be catastrophic. Drones are far more efficient and reduce the risks to surveyors. No longer do the workers need to be in such proximity to dust and dangerous substances. Drone surveying can be done remotely and safely. It helps in quick collection of data irrespective of the size of the dam, and without putting the surveyors at risk. Inspections and checks can be carried out more regularly as well, because the hardware and software is now relatively easier to use.
