How Anglo American's Docked Drones Are Transforming Everyday Mining Operations

What began as a single proof of concept has grown into daily photogrammetry and dust monitoring missions, fully automated and remotely managed from office control rooms. In this session, experts from Anglo American, UAV Latam, and FlytBase share how they’ve built a scalable, repeatable framework for autonomous mining operations — and what’s next as they expand into truck inspections and security patrols via MineStar integration.

What You’ll See

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Watch how Anglo American’s docked drones run multiple missions autonomously across the mine — capturing imagery for 3D terrain modeling, monitoring dust suppression compliance, and streaming data directly to Azure Data Lake.

You’ll see how these workflows enable Anglo’s teams to:

• Conduct daily volumetric and topographical studies without manual flights
• Monitor dust suppression zones to maintain environmental compliance
• Compare terrain changes over time using high-precision photogrammetry

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Key Highlights

• Daily Autonomous Flights: Routine photogrammetry missions across the entire mine, ensuring consistent, accurate data capture.
• Multi-Workflow Dock Network: Drones perform multiple tasks — from dust monitoring to panoramic imaging — all through one platform.
• Safety & Efficiency Gains: Remote operation eliminates risky field movement in areas with heavy vehicles and uneven terrain.
• Seamless Data Flow: Imagery automatically processed through external 3D software and integrated with Azure Data Lake for analytics.