While mining is often considered to be an old-fashioned business, Taseko’s Gibraltar Mine has been focusing on innovation and technology through its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) program, otherwise known as drones.
In 2018, Gibraltar launched its first drone program to improve surveying capabilities and streamline data collection. Since then, Gibraltar’s drone fleet has grown steadily, with each new addition offering specialized features to meet the evolving needs of the operation.
Today, drones play an essential role across the mine, improving safety, accelerating data collection,and providing high-precision insights that support smarter decision-making.
Each drone added to the Gibraltar fleet offers unique features, including:
DJI M210 quadcopter: equipped with a camera to fly over an area of interest, taking photos. The photos can be stitched together with a few surveyed control points, allowing for the creation of a geo-referenced three-dimensional surface.
Trinity F90+: A high-speed fixed-wing drone was added to the fleet to allow for rapid survey collection of the Tailings Storage Facility within a few hours. To survey the same area with the quadcopter drone, it would take days.
DJI M350: A larger DJI M350 quadcopter, with a Soarability Speedip sampling system. This drone allows for a safe way to collect samples and monitor water quality in otherwise inaccessible areas.
EVO lite+: A smaller, nimble drone used for surveying of electrical equipment such as powerlines, and transformers, and extends to anything else that is difficult or dangerous to access.
LiDAR-Equipped DJI M350: A second DJI M350 drone equipped with a highly accurate RockRobotics R3pro LiDAR camera - a remote sensing technology that uses laser pulses to measure distance and create detailed models of surfaces.
These surveys are detailed enough to measure the ground beneath trees and to pick up small objects like power lines and the buggy whip on a pickup.
What began as a single drone flying over the mine site to capture photos has evolved into an important aspect of Gibraltar’s operations.
For the Gibraltar team, innovation isn’t just about the latest tech—it’s about making each day onsite more efficient, more insightful, and above all, safer.
Editor's note: This article was submitted by Taseko Gibraltar Mines for Mining Month
