Underground Drone Surveys - Dust Suppression

More
8 months 3 weeks ago #227 by Noel Causerano
This question is focused to underground metalliferous but may be applicable to other sectors.  With the advent of new technology such as drone surveys which we cannot escape from, introduces different hindrances to get the job done.  If your not aware, drones don't like dust, and may be the difference between a successful scan or not, which usually has financial implications for the operations.  Here at Mount Isa Mines we use a combination for either Hovermap or Elios3 depending on application.  Both suffer from dust related issues, our current method to enable a successful scan is to rely on our production team to ensure the job sites are prepared adequately by watering down.  This presents it's own set of problems as control is put in the hands of people that generally have no idea of the drone requirements.So how are people managing this?  Control needs to be put back into the hands of the Surveyors and the Pilots.  Yes, water droppers at each site is ideal, but what happens when your faced with a situation when that is not available?I'm researching options to have portable water on the ute, maybe a 100L water tank or something.  Then how do I get that water onto the floor and bunds and problem areas "easily" where dust may become an issue?  Do I use a portable 8L tank?  I want something easy, practical, possibly electric, the options are endless....Would be good to hear options that people are using that are both practical and cost effective?

Regards
Noel Causerano
Registered Surveyor (Eng, MinUM, MinO) - Surveyors Act 2003, QLD
Registered Mining Surveyor - Surveying and Spatial Information Act 2002, NSW
Senior Mine Surveyor – Mount Isa Mines

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Current Major Sponsors