HOVERMAP TO THE RESCUE

EMESENT HOVERMAP IS EMPOWERING FASTER, SMARTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN UNDERGROUND MINES.

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M ining companies across the world are turning to Emesent to help them better understand their underground mines.

Emesent Hovermap empowers drones to autonomously navigate stopes, tunnels and vertical shafts to map complex and GPS-denied environments, removing people from hazardous areas while providing accurate, high-resolution 3D data.

This mapping informs the planning of an underground mine, where convergence monitoring, blast optimisation and stope design, to name a few variables, are critical to setting up an operation.

In fact, there are more than 25 ways to use Hovermap in an underground mine. And while many of these are production-focused, there are also safety applications, with monitoring and emergency response becoming increasingly important capabilities.

"Hovermap data can be used to detect early signs of convergence or movement in the ground, which can help prevent dangerous rock falls," Emesent cofounder and chief strategy officer Stefan Hrabar told Australian Mining.

"But if an incident was to occur whether there's a fall of ground or somebody is trapped - a Hovermapenabled drone can, without putting humans at risk, be sent underground and collect 3D data as it flies. This helps responders understand what's happened and informs rescue planning." Hrabar discussed various cases around the world where Hovermap has been used for safety purposes. This includes mines in Australia, the US, Canada and Sweden.

A fall of ground incident in a Canadian mine trapped several miners.