Issac Fage launches an eBee drone, which surveys mining sites and returns with huge amounts of valuable data.
Drones are revolutionizing mining work that used to take much longer and carry greater risk
The buzz around drones is rising, with futuristic scenarios of little choppers dropping pizza at doorsteps or tiny, insect-like devices surreptitiously snapping photos.
For Canada's mining industry, drones have been a reality for several years, flying everywhere from uncharted northern wilderness to gravel pits near cities as the industry acknowledges the versatility of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
"In mining, the questions are always the same. We're using new tools to answer the same questions," said Isaac Fage, president of GroundTruth Exploration, based in Dawson City, Yukon.
To find the mother lode, one of GroundTruth's tools is a $35,000 UAV known as an eBee that weighs 700 grams and has an 80-centimetre wingspan. Capable of flying for up to 40 minutes at an elevation of about 100 metres, eBee has sensors that prevent it from crashing. Programmers plan eBee's mission, throw it in the air, monitor it on land and let her rip.
The UAV has a camera to produce high-resolution images and digital elevation models that are used for applications including site access, topographic imaging and 3-D volumetric calculations. The resilient device has completed missions in the winter, at high mountain elevations and even on moderately windy or rainy days.
The beauty of drones is that they're the first step of what can be a less invasive method of exploration. The drone brings back data − a highly detailed blueprint − that's used to produce a ground-surface model, Fage said. If areas of interest are found, the rocks will be tested, using a geoprobe rather than excavators that dig trenches that later have to be backfilled.
Drones can potentially slice time in the field from about 18 months to one month. They also generate live images compared to sometimes-outdated satellite images.
As the international mining industry works to dig out of its 2013 downturn, drones could prove valuable. Basic models cost about $3,000 with prices climbing to $100,000 for large commercial UAVs.
Drone technology also ensures that transparency and accountability go hand-in-glove with mining. "This survey tool captures a moment in time. You can see that drum left in the field or if a tree was cut. With this crazy little tool that looks like a toy, there's an opportunity to build trust," Fage said.
Canadian skies are relatively open, with regulations that allow individuals or companies to operate UAVs. After the applicant acquires the Special Flight Operation Certificate from Transport Canada, it's permitted to operate a UAV.
The U.S. had outlawed the use of UAVs for commercial purposes but has recently given British Petroleum and UAV manufacturer AeroVironment permission to fly a UAV for aerial surveys in Alaska, the first time the FAA has authorized a commercial drone operation over land. Meanwhile, Australia's large mining industry has welcomed UAVs.
One of the first companies to get Transport Canada approval was Accuas, a Salmon Arm, B.C.-based unmanned aerial survey company launched in 2008 by Scott McTavish.
One of Accuas's first of six jobs that year was capturing aerial images of a landfill. Next came data collection of stockpile volumes at aggregate sites. Today, with another office in Ontario and a fleet of nine UAVs of various sizes and capabilities, Accuas has completed more than 500 commercial projects, many of them in the mining industry.
Clients have included Teck, which requested aerial imaging and 3-D modelling at one of its largest open pits in North America (Highland Valley Copper), and Anglo American.
Because the UAV's ground crew must maintain visual contact with it in case something goes wrong, the maximum distance a UAV can fly is about 1.5 km, McTavish said. When the area which requires imaging is larger than 15-20 square km, a plane becomes more cost-effective.
Some mining companies hire surveyors whose job is to monitor landscape changes at a mining site on a daily basis. But with large machinery at work and unstable terrain, the surveyor faces a dangerous job. UAVs can be used to replace the daily walk-about. Also prime UAV fly-by territory are tailings ponds which contain, says McTavish, "a lot of material you don't want to get near."
For more innovation insights, visit www.gereports.ca
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department, in consultation with GE. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.