Govt backs use of drones in mining operations

With civilian drones now largely outnumbering military drones, ministry is considering using them for mine related applications

The Union mines ministry is exploring possibilities of use of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) in different mine related functions including,  exploration, surveillance, regulation and operation of mines, managing waste dumps and post mining reclamation of land.
 

To achieve successful applications of drones, the ministry has asked PSUs controlled by it— National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) to exploit the new technology. State government organisations, Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) can also bank on drone technologies, the ministry said.
 

“It is requested to explore the usage and deployment of drone technology in your respective organisations and share the action taken in this regard with this ministry”, Prithul Kumar, director at Union ministry of mines said in a letter to the intended organisations.
 

Though originated in military applications, the use of drones is vastly expanding in commercial, scientific, recreational and other applications. With civilian drones now largely outnumbering military drones, the ministry is considering using them for mine related applications.
 

Data by the mines ministry says usage of drones can be particularly useful in underground mining without exposing humans. Drone based data collection can boost productivity and it can replace the traditional survey projects that took days or weeks by making the job possible in a few hours. Also, drones can potentially add value to short-term planning, long-term planning, drill & blast, geology, hydrology, mineral exploration, heritage & environmental management, regulation and operation of mines and post mines reclamation of land.
 

Use of drones can help in volumetric analysis, lease boundary analysis, thermal analysis of open pit mines. It is also capable real-timeime dust monitoring and surveillance to curb illegal mining activities.
 

For exploration agencies like GSI, drones can be put to use in initial survey, physical terrain mapping & segregation of and use, surveying and mapping of forests and detailed study like contour mapping.
 

Mining PSUs can apply the drone technology in volumetric analysis of extractions and dumps, tracking movements of trucks on mining sites, reclamation studies and lease boundary fixation using on-the-board GPS of drones.
 

Globally, mining industries are digging into drone technologies as they look to scale up and grow more competitive. In South Africa, drone deployment in area mines is on the rise as companies view UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) as a way to restructure their cost models. The mining companies there use drones for everything- from mapping to mineral exploration to tracking stockpiles.
 

A survey of 190 miners by International Data Corporation (IDC), the global market intelligence firm, reveals two out of three mining companies globally, are looking at remote operations and monitoring centres. A third of the surveyed mining firms are looking at robotics and one-fourth of them at UAVs or drones.