Timmins, Canada’s Kidd Mine is located in a small mining community on the province’s northeastern boundaries. I should emphasize that it is the deepest mine in terms of depth from sea level—that is, it penetrates the ground the most deeply of any mine. (There are mines in South Africa that begin above sea level and extend further than the Kidd Mine, but none reach as close to the earth’s center as the Kidd Mine.)
Unmanned Aerial Services Inc. is a market leader in the provision of drone services to the mining industry. They have developed proprietary methods for deploying drones to collect data in mines over the last several years that significantly improve mining operations’ safety while also recouping significant savings.
We were headed to the Kidd Mine to do experiments with a Flyability indoor drone and a DJI Matrice 210 fitted with a LiDAR sensor. The objective was to assess the drones’ performance and the data they might collect in a real-world mining setting.
If this all seems foreboding, the fact is that I was foolishly tranquil about the thought of riding thousands of feet down a vertical shaft the following day. When it came to safety, I assumed mining operations were binary—if you were permitted to enter an area, it was safe; if you were not permitted to enter, it was unsafe.
However, as I discovered the next day, the truth is a little more nuanced than that.
Mine Safety
Safety in mining has advanced significantly during the previous many decades. However, even with cutting-edge technology and best practices in place, safety remains a primary concern in mining operations. That is why, in order to enter a mine, you must utilize specialized mining equipment and wear specialized PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). This equipment was necessary for my mission at the Kidd Mine:
Orange coveralls Protective eyewear
A protective headgear
The hardhat is equipped with a flashlight.
Boots with steel toes
Gloves
A waist belt
A personal emergency respiratory mask (referred to as a “self-rescuer”) worn on your belt in case of an underground fire
Geoff and Johan are appropriately attired in mining PPE.
One of the most serious safety hazards in a mine is being struck by falling debris. To protect falling debris, the areas where miners operate are generally reinforced with shotcrete and wire mesh/screen.
Unreinforced regions, referred known as unsupported ground areas, are often marked extremely clearly so that people avoid them. Crossing the line marked “Restricted Entry” in the image above would very certainly mean entering an unstable, unprotected area where bits of rock and debris could fall from the rear (ceiling) at any moment.
How Drones Help Keep Miners Safe
It is nearly impossible to determine the conditions inside a mine’s unstable section.
However, by flying into these places with a drone, you can collect critical data that can help advise safety decisions and also assist in identifying leftover ore.
Visual data (images and video) and LiDAR data are the two primary types of data collected by drones in mining (data that can be used to create maps of an area). Visual data can provide instant insight into the safety of entering a section of a mine.
Geoff Helluin of Unmanned Aerial Services Inc. in Timmins reported a time when a portion of a mine flooded and it was difficult to determine the depth of the water and how far back the flooding had penetrated. He was able to fly along the surface of the water, following the flood deep into the mine’s recesses, in order to determine how safe it was to return.
Photogrammetry can also be used to convert visual data into 3D models, which can provide more detailed information for making safety assessments.
LiDAR can enhance the situational awareness provided by drone data by enabling mining personnel to construct maps of critical locations.
Mining companies are increasingly relying on drones equipped with LiDAR sensors to build 3D models. LiDAR technology enables real-time mapping, which enables mining personnel to obtain rapid information on the conditions inside unstable areas. This data can then be used to construct a detailed digital twin of the location using 3D mapping tools.
Both real-time situational awareness and precise 3D models afforded by LiDAR assist mining operations in increasing safety by providing critical information about the circumstances inside unstable areas that they could not obtain otherwise.
Miners can obtain instant information regarding stability and other conditions by using drones, so boosting the overall safety of the operation.
As industry leaders such as Unmanned Aerial Services Inc. demonstrate the value of drones for mine activities, we can expect to see an increasing number of mining operations utilize drone technology to influence safety choices and improve daily operations.
