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Geological exploration system

UAV-Based Mining Exploration

Multi-sensor unmanned aerial system for geophysical survey and gold exploration

System capabilities

  • Aeromagnetic survey

    High-precision mapping of magnetic field variations using a towed Overhauser or Caesium-Vapour magnetometer.

    • RTK positioning
    • Below 30 m AGL flight
    • Towed sensor isolation
  • Hyperspectral imaging

    SWIR and VNIR spectral bands for detection of hydrothermal alteration minerals.

    • Clay minerals
    • Iron oxides
    • Alteration mapping
  • LiDAR 3D modeling

    Survey-grade LiDAR for high-accuracy digital elevation models and structural analysis.

    • Vegetation penetration
    • Fault lineament detection
    • Centimetre-level accuracy

Phased exploration workflow

  1. Planning & mission execution

    Mission design using existing geological databases, with systematic low-altitude grid pattern programming in UgCS or proprietary flight software.

    • Geological databases
    • RTK positioning
    • Grid pattern
  2. Data acquisition

    Simultaneous collection of Total Magnetic Intensity, LiDAR point clouds and hyperspectral imagery across the survey area.

    • Towed magnetometer
    • LiDAR
    • Hyperspectral
  3. Data processing & integrated analysis

    3D magnetic inversion using Oasis Montaj, cross-referencing structural anomalies with spectral anomalies and LiDAR elevation features.

    • Oasis Montaj
    • 3D inversion
    • Target prioritization
  4. Ground follow-up

    High-priority geophysical and geochemical anomalies are handed off for geochemical sampling, exploratory trenching and targeted drilling.

    • Geochemical sampling
    • Exploratory trenching
    • Targeted drilling

Technology stack

Hardware components

Drone platform
DJI Matrice 300 RTK / M350 or custom long-endurance
Heavy-lift multirotor with RTK positioning
Magnetometer
Overhauser or Caesium-Vapour
Towed sensor for magnetic field variation
LiDAR system
DJI Zenmuse L2/L1 or survey-grade equivalent
High-accuracy elevation model generation
Spectral sensor
Hyperspectral SWIR / VNIR
Alteration mineral detection

Software components

Mission planning
UgCS / DJI Pilot or proprietary
Flight control and grid programming
Geophysical processing
Oasis Montaj (Geosoft)
3D magnetic inversion modeling
Remote sensing
DJI Terra / Pix4D / Agisoft
Photogrammetry and point cloud processing
Data integration
ArcGIS Pro / QGIS
GIS interpretation and target prioritization

Planning an exploration campaign?

Talk to us about survey design and data integration.

contact@ecotras.net