• Digital terrain model (DTM) – can express the real topographic shape of the ground below for use in survey planning
• 3D textured mesh – assists in the mathematical calculations required to estimate how many metric tonnes of earth need to be removed or moved for mining to commence on a site

Main Benefits of Drones in Mining

Below are the three main reasons drones have become so popular in mining operations in Australia:

1. Drone mining surveys are known to produce highly accurate measurements using photogrammetric cameras and software – which is highly useful in mining stockpile management, usually a daily problem for mine managers. For example, our drones create thousands of data points for one stockpile. When you combine these data points using software, you can identify all the surface unevenness and undulation to prevent any safety issues with stockpile subsidence. These surveys are therefore essential to minimise errors in stockpile volume calculations and the data obtained by drones can even contribute to accurate production calculations.
2. Using a survey drone to capture data, or images from the field, is 30 times quicker and easier than using traditional surveying or inspection methods on a site. Provided the drone is sub 2kg, any site employee can easily collect your mine site survey or inspection data if they’re trained to fly a drone. You then have the freedom to survey or inspect remote areas of your mine site at any frequency that best suits.
3. Drone surveys provide comprehensive imagery that identifies any safety hazards to help you improve worker and mine site safety management, compared to traditional surveying equipment. All danger zones and hazards can be eliminated that would otherwise be unsafe for employees navigating and exploring through the mine site. This is all possible without disrupting your company workflows and movement of machines.
4. Real-time, moment-to-moment progress monitoring is possible with mining drones – you can work remotely and obtain real-time images from above your site and track the progress of a construction design, or a mine’s production without leaving the site. Capturing regular images every day can also paint a picture of progress over time and can be used to communicate to remote offices or project stakeholders that aren’t on the site every day.

Survey-Grade Drones for the Mining Industry

Aptella offer a range of surveying drones and drone accessories for sale that are ideal in the mining industry. We provide survey-grade drones from leading suppliers involving Intel, DJI, Quantum Systems and more that are safe and accurate for industrial applications. The DJI Phantom 4 RTK is ideal for the majority of mine surveys, with the exception of the mine site size.