Digging Deep Dialogue 28: Multi-Sensor UAV applications specialists focused on customized high resolution end to end imagery solutions.

Digging Deep (DD) takes another good trip to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Northern Canada, to discuss all things multi-sensor UAV applications with Venessa Bennett (VB), Founder/Owner & Chief Pilot of Drone North . Their focus is on the integration of multi-sensor UAVs and image analytics to develop end to end workflows and innovative image analysis solutions. They design and execute custom and large area photogrammetry, LiDAR, multi-spectral and thermal sensor UAV programs and work with you to maximize how you utilize your high resolution imagery datasets. Her wealth of knowledge and approach to what clients want is remarkable, and our discussion touches on the company, her 28 years as a practicing professional geologist, synergy in communication between consulting geologists and site teams in harnessing good data from exploration programs, how can mining companies adapt to research and development in sensors used for drones without falling behind on adoption of smarter technology for data acquisition and we cap off with why is it important to focus on the data and how it is being used in mineral exploration programs. Let's dig deep and learn more from Venessa.

DD: Welcome to the Digging Deep Dialogue Venessa. It’s a pleasure and honor to have you with us. In your capacity as Founder/Owner & Chief Pilot of Drone North, please take us through the company’s journey from 2019 to date?

VB: The idea of Drone North started when the first commercial drones hit the market around 2014, which also coincided with when I went back to school to receive training in remote sensing, GPS surveying methods, GIS and data analytics. A couple of years after that training program, I was managing a gold exploration program in northern Finland. That project was where I purchased my first optical camera drone to make base maps for geological mapping and sampling in trenches.

After that, I never went to exploration and mining projects without a drone, but I found that it was getting difficult to perform my role as a geologist and as UAV pilot and image processor. In 2019, I decided that there was enough potential opportunities in Northern Canada to start a new business dedicated exclusively to UAV surveying. I started with one drone and focused on photogrammetry, but this steadily progressed to today where the Drone North now has a fleet drones with a wide range of imaging capabilities that are used for clients in exploration, mining, government departments and research groups. The companies goal is to be a necessary bridge between image acquisition and best practice on data usage.

DD: As a practicing professional geologist with 28 years experience in geosciences and the mining industry ranging from research, government geoscience to mining consultancy, how has your career evolved?

VB: I have been extremely fortunately to have worked in a variety of capacities within the Geoscience industry. I came to Canada from Australia after my undergraduate degree at 澳大利亚麦考瑞大学 and pursued a PhD and a Post Doctoral Fellow at Memorial University of Newfoundland . As a researcher I was most interested in how to practically use ICP-MS isotopic datasets in government geoscience programs. The work was a great combination of field work and sampling in the summer, and then detailed research and development to create and test new methods to age date rocks for mapping programs. The research was funded by fiscal year end contracts for geological survey mapping programs.

After that I segued into the private sector and was a senior geologist exploring for gold and uranium until the global financial crisis in 2008 which pushed my career into government geoscience in the Yukon Territory, where I now live and work. This role also introduced me into the use of geoscience in Land Use Planning of traditional territories for First Nations as well as supporting the mineral exploration community in Northern Canada through mineral deposit applied research.

After a few years in this role, I stepped into consulting, both nationally and internationally to mining and exploration companies. It was during one of the industry downturns in 2014 where I was fortunate to go back to school and learn about remote sensing, GIS and data analytics. The schooling was really rewarding and my peers were from all disciplines. The timing of the schooling also overlapped when the first consumer drones hit the market and a year or so after I completed the schooling and was managing a gold exploration program in northern Finland, I bought my first drone and put it to great use on that field program.

Now I run two businesses throughout the year that focus on geological consulting and UAV surveying. Its seems like a lot but the two business go hand in hand and I can better advise and help my mining clients chose the right imagery survey and educate on best ways of how to analyze and use the data for better project decision making.

DD: Dataset acquisition using drones is one thing, but the value is in how the data is being used in workflows. How crucial is synergy in communication between consulting geologists and site teams in harnessing good data from exploration programs?

VB: This is a good point and as both a consulting geologist and a service provider that works with company site teams, I would say you could break this down into a couple of factors.

Gaining a good understanding of diversity of skills and experience of the site team members is crucial for me as both a consulting geologist and UAV service provider. If I know the site team has a great range of people and skills, then I tailor consulting services to focus only on where the technical gaps might occur in the program they are executing.

Understanding the background of the site team, allows me to provide better recommendations about imagery/datasets the team could make good use of. For example, If I know one of the site team member has good experience with remote sensing data, then I know I can work with them to make sure there whole team get maximum use of data.

Alternatively, If I know there is a technical gap in the site team skills, then I give educational presentations, one-on one training with key team members or do value-add work with imagery analysis work to ensure the site team is making the most of the data they collect. This goes for both UAV imagery data and geological datasets.

In a nutshell, it really is all about good communication from the beginning to end of a project/contract. Having a good understanding of people and how they learn or process information is also crucial.

DD: RnD in sensors used for drones is very fast paced, almost every year a new sensor is introduced onto the market. How can mining companies adapt to these changes without falling behind on adoption of smarter technology for data acquisition?

VB: Another great question. The major and mid-size mining companies often have enough human resource capacity that they have in-house innovation teams that help de-risk new technology and build a path to early adoption. If they don’t, they usually have consultants, SME’s and preferred vendors that they can tap into to track potentially disruptive technology trends. Companies looking to become more competitive need to develop these innovation/de-risking teams.

The smaller companies who work in the exploration, environmental baseline study and reclamation stages of the mine-life cycle tend to be slow-adopters of new technologies because they don’t often have the financial or people resources to devote to innovation.

That’s where entrepreneurial companies like Drone North step up to de-risk and demonstrate best practice of new technology as a business case. This innovation space in the mining sector needs to grow more and not focus exclusively on AI, which is the flavour of the month currently. There are not enough people in the commercial sector doing this work and a lot is left to research groups who, while they do some excellent work, are not producing results at the same time scale that the private sector operates.

DD: In closing, why is it important to focus on the data and how it is being used in mineral exploration programs? What is your advice for setting up workflows to get the most out of exploration programs?

VB: Good data in the right hands makes the discoveries we need in the mining industry. It can be make or break for the success of a project. As an example, perhaps a satellite imagery survey was used instead of a high resolution drone survey in rugged and remote terrain. The coarse resolution satellite imagery missed locating a large colour anomaly relating to mineralized rock that clearly stood out in the high resolution colour imagery. The trickle on effect was that the project geologists did not see the target in the data, they didn’t send teams into the field to assess the target, and no drilling occurred and a discovery was missed. The same can be said for geochemical data, geophysical data, poor understanding of 3D controls on mineralization. The bottom line is good data is crucial to exploration success. And educating people to use that data comes in a very close second. No point in having good data if your team cant understand the data and make decisions.

A workflow in an exploration context is dependent a lot on the overall objectives of the project. The first critical step is to identify what that objective is. Is this a grass roots generative project? Is this a project with some early stage discoveries that need grooming for drilling? Is it a project with a resource calculation looking to expand the known area of the resource? Also the corporate objectives are a significant part of defining project objectives. What is the overall vision of the CEO and the board for the project.

Once these questions have been answered, then a good multi-disciplinary technical team can get their heads together and design a program suited to meet project objectives. When the technical program is designed, only then could good workflows be established. These can be broken down into safety work flows, field work flows, data workflows and information/communication workflows.

In a nutshell, when you know the project objectives, design an appropriate technical program, then you can establish good workflows that move you towards exploration success.

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