Rocketmine, a subsidiary of the international Delta Drone Group, says it “continues to affirm its’ position as the drone service providing leader in UAV (drone) solutions for the mining sector.” The company has procured contracts with mining majors throughout Africa. A contract renewal with South African mining giant, Exxaro Resources Group sees Rocketmine providing survey and mapping solutions to the Grootegeluk site in the Limpopo Province. This forms part of their plan to evolve towards the “digitised mine of the future” concept where real-time mine planning and execution can be conducted to improve mining efficiency and production.
Grootegeluk mine is Exxaro’s largest opencast mine in the southern hemisphere. This particular site inhabits various hazards and dangers to the surveyors. The survey and mapping solution was aimed to get surveyors out of dangerous areas to increase safety and data turnaround time. One of Exxaro’s primary driving force in optimising efficiency of their operations is to meet the demand requirements of the Medupi power station. “Our professional service and accurate data have been our greatest advocates. While safety and our cost-effective approaches contribute to a more streamlined and productive output on-site assisting the client achieve their targets,” explains Rocketmine MD, Christopher Clark.
The second contract acquisition sees Rocketmine taking to the skies in Namibia. Rio Tinto’s first commercial uranium mine, Rössing Uranium, had supplied a total of 132,610 t of uranium oxide to the world by the end of 2017. To achieve the best possible grade of uranium, the Rössing Uranium mine achieves this by optimising the accuracy of planning. This requires regular and accurate stockpile movements. “The integration of drone technology at Rössing Uranium Mine will enhance operational efficiencies pertaining to planning by providing expeditious accurate data,” said Clark.
Rocketmine secured two other contracts in West Africa. Newcrest Mining Limited in Côte d’Ivoire and Newmont Akyem to provide mine blast monitoring and fragmentation analysis and survey mapping respectively. “A global cumulative amount for these African projects over the next three years equates close to €1,000,000. These mines are clear cases that the future of the mining will utilise technology not only to find innovative solutions but to decrease their carbon footprint,” concludes Clark.
