Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have many applications in the mining industry that can improve safety, lower costs, and increase productivity and efficiency. Drones can be used to map deposit sites, monitor stockpiles and equipment, survey land, and inspect hazardous areas more safely and cheaply than traditional helicopters. Mining companies are increasingly using drones to generate high-resolution aerial imagery which provides data to assess the mine development, document changes, and calculate stockpile volumes. Drones allow monitoring of both aboveground and underground areas to improve underground worker safety.

1. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or Drone applicability in Mining
Prasant Kumar Sahu
Sr. Tech. Asst. (Mining Engg.), Indian Bureau of Mines, Bhubaneswar
Introduction:
Throughout the last two centuries, there has been great progress in mining technology in many different
areas. Such progress is often made in an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary manner, especially in
the equipment used, which has helped to the evolution of the industry. The most recently incorporation
is Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, most commonly known as “DRONES”. UAVs have the potential to change
the way mines and mining land are monitored, with the flow-on effect being a raft of safety and
efficiency improvements for companies. UAVs have two obvious features: they can fly, and they are
unmanned (but controlled remotely by an operator). In the context of surveillance and media, this has
been the addition of a camera or other recording device. The newly adopted technology, which has
been utilized for a wide array of mining activities, is taking another step forward. Unmanned aerial
vehicles are turning the mining sector into an emerging frontier for new technology. In recent years,
these miniature helicopters have helped the industry find cheaper and safer ways to map deposit sites
and explore for minerals via remote control. One of the biggest benefits of using UAV’s is the cost and
it’s cheaper than traditional helicopters. Drones are reshaping the way of surveying new areas, providing
better results for a fraction of the cost. In addition to surveying, the likelihood drones are used in other
avenues of mining operations is a clear possibility.
Applicability of UAVs:
UAVs are revolutionizing the way of doing different works due to the different benefits that are
providing and their versatility to be implemented for different tasks. In case of mining, they have helped
the industry to find cheaper and safer ways to map deposit sites and explore for minerals. By using
drones, miners can obtain fast, accurate and cost effective mapping results. Plus, they can create high
quality digital terrain models with integrated high resolution images. Their small size allows UAVs to
hover above risky and difficult access areas. This characteristic is especially important for mining since it
also allows the reduction of interferences on the parameters of Earth’s surface for a more precise
measurement and also they can flight under hard weather conditions without affecting the quality of
the data. With the ability to monitor stockpiles, map exploration targets and track equipment, the
usage of drones in the mining industry is limitless.
ABSTRACT
Surveillance, rather than mining, is usually one of the first things associated with unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as DRONES, but the benefits they can bring to the
resources sector are significant. A growing number of mining companies are employing
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Equipped with digital cameras, such remote-controlled small
aircraft generate high-resolution aerial imagery which can be further processed to produce
highly precise orthophotos, point clouds and 3D models. Surveyors and engineers can use this
data to make statements and forecasts about the development of the mine, document changes
as well as calculate volumes of spoil and stockpiles. In mines with both aboveground and
underground areas, UAVs can provide important information about the state of the
aboveground area, thus improving the safety of the workers underground.

2. Some of their applications in Mining:
 Geological reconnaissance
 Iteration mapping and target generation
 Mine Planning
 Mine measurement/survey/dispute resolution
 Mine development reports
 Structural and terrain analysis
 Hyper spectral analysis
 Mine dump and tailings analysis
 To survey or monitor exploration land
 To monitor mining lease perimeters and the condition of related infrastructure such as haul roads
 To assist in the condition monitoring of the mine itself, including to identify potential subsidence
or deterioration of benches
 To monitor the deployment of equipment and personnel
 Safety and Security (search & rescue, monitoring / providing information from dangerous and
difficult locations)
 Exploration and Development (such as aerial photography and remote sensing)
 Productivity (stockpile mapping, mine mapping & reconciliation and time lapse photography)
List of wide ranging applicability
Sl. No. Role /Purpose of Use Sl. No. Role /Purpose of Use
1
Geology:
• Stock pile management
• Grade control & exploration planning
7
Managing Waste Dumps:
• Dumping of waste from extraction
needs to be monitored whether the
waste is being put in the right site as per
the regulations or norms are being
violated.
2
Hydrology:
• Drainage and water management
• Watershed, drainage basin & water
flow mapping
• Thermal detection of ground water
inflows
• Tailings dam management
8
Heritage & Environmental Management:
• Reporting
• Erosion detection
• Vegetation change tracking
• Inundation tracking
• Slurry pipeline stability & leakage
detection
• Game counting
• Surrounding community mapping
3
Mineral Exploration:
• Resource calculation
• Geophysical & watershed/catchment
area modelling
• Supporting photography (land usage,
SEIA etc.)
9
Regulation and Operation of Mines:
• In case of regulations and operations,
the activities are volume of extraction
which has been reported by the mining
agency, whether the volume has been
reported correctly or not. It is generally a
time taking process.
Drone or UAV

3. 4
Short-Term Planning:
• Pit & dump management
• Communication of daily/weekly
mining plans
• Haul route surface optimization
• Storm damage assessment & control
10
Post Mining Reclamation:
• For Reclamation activities, mining
agency needs to reclaim the land after the
mine has been closed. IBM has to monitor
whether the reclamation has been done
as committed by the agency. Count the
number of trees that has been planted or
calculate the total green cover area that
has been developed as part of
reclamation drive.
5
Long-Term Planning:
• Haul road, dump and pit design
• Geotechnical
• Surface stability monitoring
• Joint mapping
• Control for mining in void areas
• Mapping of steep inaccessible
inclines
11
Surveillance or Monitoring:
• Surveillance or monitoring of any illegal
mining activities being performed in any
area.
6
Drill & Blast:
• Up-to-date surfaces for optimized
blast designs
• Pre- & post-blast data
• Identification of misfires & wall
damage
12
Community:
• Community relations/marketing
• Impact reporting
• Oblique imagery
Conclusion:-
Furthermore, there are current changing trends in mining technology show a huge rise in automation
which directly impacts on the operational cost as well safety incidents. Currently UAVs can be viable for
mining industries which could cater for specialist jobs in their relevant field. With changes to the
feasibility as costs decrease and quality of the systems increase UAVs will become more prevalent in
mining industries in the upcoming future.
Reference:
1. The Ministry of Mines, Government of India. Website: - www.mines.nic.in.
2.www.dronedeploy.com,www.alphaunmannedsystems.com,www.lexology.com,www.miningglobal.co
m, www.sensefly.com, www.gim-international.com
Benefits of adopting UAVs in Mining
Improved Safety Cost-effectiveness More Reliability Boosting ProductivityHigher Mobility