Public Joint Stock Mining and Metallurgical Norilsk Nickel : Nornickel tests new drones for underground operations

Komsomolsky MineA mining location for the extraction of ores.Go to the glossarytested a new model of aerial drones with a laser scanners. Drones are introduced at NornickelPublic Joint Stock Company "Mining and Metallurgical Company "Norilsk Nickel" and its subsidiariesGo to the glossary's operations as part of the CompanyPublic Joint Stock Company "Mining and Metallurgical Company "Norilsk Nickel"Go to the glossary's comprehensive Technological Breakthrough programme to improve operational efficiency, which has been in place since 2015.

Norilsk Division has 10 drones in its fleet for underground and surface surveys.

Drones are used for autonomous surveying (underground) at complex sites where staff access is prohibited and where there is no direct view: for inspection of cleaning chambers, survey of hard-to-reach workings, ore pits, rock dumps, and under-stocked workings. Photo and video recording allows a quick and detailed view of the state of the mount, the volume of the worked-out clearing space. On the surface, drones are used to photograph mineral stockpiles, rock dumps, metal-containing and watered-out storages.

Specialists from the Department of Mineral Resources, together with the Polar Division's Mine Surveying Centre, tested a Chinese model of an industrial quadcopter. The advantages of the tested model include the ability to attach a lidar scanner, video camera, thermal imager and even an echo sounder. The echo sounder can be used to survey the bottom of an impounded tailings dump at depths of up to 100 metres to measure the volume of metal-containing concentrate. This method will increase the reliability of the surveying measurement and the safety of the work. The lidar scanner allows for rapid surveying and surveying of production facilities over a large area. In the past, surveys used to take a long time and had to be done by two teams of surveyors. Now, in good weather conditions it takes only 10-15 minutes to survey a 2 million cubic metre waste dump.

"Today, Nornickel is analysing new technologies and markets in the context of current limitations. Over the next year, the company plans to test the lion's share of technologies for advanced mine surveying," said Sergei Sobolev, Head of Mine Surveying and Audit of Mining Projects at Nornickel's Mineral Resources Department.

Nornickel was recognised as one of Russia's best companies for surveying in 2021 and continues its drive to improve efficiency. The Norilsk Division alone operates more than 10 drones on the surface and tests drones in underground mines without a GPS signal. The company has its own staff of pilots, who are constantly improving their skills in piloting and data processing.

"Technology doesn't stand still, a constant learning process is required. The camerawork process is not easy either. A 15-minute flight can take days to process. It is important to know the different software and apply the survey data to a local coordinate system with the required accuracy. In other words, to work with these technologies, the level of specialists must be very high," said Sergei Sobolev.

In the future, Nornickel plans to test technology that is only emerging: drones that can work without the involvement of a pilot on a clearly defined route, transmit data at a distance and return to the base independently. Human involvement will be required only at the stage of processing the information received. The company plans to develop such advanced technologies in mining, environmental monitoring, industrial safety and other areas, and to systematically create a culture of working with innovation.