Mining processes are highly labor-intensive which require huge investment to check the safety of laborers. Mining industries are searching for new technologies to reduce costs and enhance productivity and worker safety. Drones are one of such technologies that can be applied across mine sites, making on-site activities a lot safer and more productive. Drones in mining boost the overall productivity of large mine sites and quarry management by giving exact and comprehensive details of data in a very short time. This data can be safely produced by on-site laborers who have little surveying experience at a fraction of the cost of traditional survey methods.
Across the mining industry, drones are exhibiting surprising results by allowing much greater data collection, improving safety, and intensifying productivity. The popularity of drone technology across the mining industry has increased significantly in recent years.
In mining, drones have various applications like mine surveying, inventory management, stockpile evaluation, and hot spot identification, etc. Drones are such technologies that can access hard-to-reach areas and serve with better insights for planning mine.
How can drones be used in the mining industry?
On-site Safety Management
Drones can be implemented for accumulating visual data of volatile and complex areas which include high terrains, crests, high walls, etc. Further, the technology can be used for collecting aerial data which will help in reducing the danger of exposure on the ground.
Structural Cohesion Maintenance
Drones can be used to measure tailings dams that would eradicate the risk of manual surveying. With the implementation of drones, there will be no need for manual surveys. By scanning the captured data on a digital platform, mining industries can maintain structural cohesion of the tailings dam, plan expansion and avoid failure.
Time Saving Process of Surveying and Mapping
In the mining industry, surveying and mapping mineral landscapes consume a lot of time. By implementing drones and a drone pilot as an alternative to a piloted plane, mining industries can save around 90% of the cost per hour and accumulate extensive amounts of aerial data.
Monitoring and Inspection
Mining is amongst the most dangerous industries for laborers, especially those working deep underground. Laborers can be subjected to rock falls, extremely humid conditions, gas leaks, dust explosions, or floods, amongst other hazards. Therefore, drones can be used by mining industries to monitor and ensure the safety of deep underground laborers.
Stockpile Management
One of the greatest challenges any mining industry faces while managing stockpiles are their extreme height and area, which are volatile. Drones allow mining industries to produce aerial terrain models of the inventory.
