Fleet of Mine Drones to be dispatched to Mines in Africa
Wed, 30 Mar 2016 11:33:44 GMT
Fleet of Mine Drones to be dispatched to Mines in Africa
Next-generation (next-gen) technology has arrived on our African mines! In fact, a few mines in Africa have already started invested heavily in high-tech “drones” and we can expect to see more mines across Africa to follow suit. This was reported by MiningWeekly and is said to gain full traction with mines in Africa over the next 2 years.
Commercial drone start-up companies are quickly adapting to the needs of the needs of mines in Africa and other emerging mining markets. As a result these start-ups are generating revenues and gaining many new clients from multinational mining companies and global telecoms firms to African pop stars. [Source: Africas commercial drones take off]
Countries involved in production of mine drones
South Africa and Ghana will play integral parts in the production process. South Africa’s Rocketmine and Ghana’s Aeroshutter by adding technical abilities such as 3D volumetric image processing and other nifty features that humans are incapable of providing. [Source: Africa’s commercial drones take off]
How did the idea for mine drones in Africa come about?
Currently Mines in Africa utilises technology for environmental management, tyre monitoring and shift optimization – to name a few. Chris Clark, Rocketmine’s CEO said he got the idea for aerial data services after noticing how one of his mining clients struggling to collect data with a broken drone.
Drones on mines in Africa: Is it the future of mining?
Given that Mine decision makers are scrambling to invest in this high-tech it looks as though we will have to make space for the inclusion of drones on the mines. This could also translate into more job prospects given that drone operators, drone manufacturers, drone coders and so on, will need to be appointed.
One of Rocketmine’s services is quantifying mine stockpile volumes using aerial volumetric 3D mapping. “Previously employees would walk over these 40-meter piles with GPS devices, which was dangerous and less accurate. Now what used to take half a day takes half an hour and we get volume calculations down to 0.025 percent accuracy,” Clark said.
[Source: ,Africa’s commercial drones take off]Why the need for drones in mines in Africa?
The drones are reported to be able to provide complex information in real time (or close to real time). The main reason for the drones on mines is Africa is to equip mine decision makers, Mine Managers and other mining staff with the ability to make complex business decisions quickly, especially given the complex and dangerous environment of mines in Africa.
There’s no doubt that a mine presents a very dangerous working environment. Just last month we were shocked to hear about Makonjwaan Lily gold mine collapsing after a mine shaft pillar caved in (Makonjwaan lily gold mine collapse). With drones taking over some of the more dangerous aspects of work on the mines, then we can expect to see a decline in the mortality rate on our mines in Africa.
What do you think? Should we welcome the drones on our mines in Africa or not? Why?
Articles used: Drones play increasing role African mine management
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