When we think of drones, we think of those that are commercially available where they are used for photography or videography purposes. However, drones have much more potential than just grabbing photos or videos, and have been finding a fair amount of commercial use. For example, drones can be used to survey construction sites.They can also be used for inspection purposes, such as cellphone towers which would previously require a lot of manpower and also heavy equipment. It also exposed workers to potential dangers, but with the use of drones, companies can survey cellphone towers (almost remotely), making it a more cost-effective and efficient operation.
French startup Delair is no stranger to its drones being used commercially. Some of the company’s drones are used by firefighters to help with reconnaissance missions and monitoring areas affected by forest fires.
Now it looks like Delair’s drones are being used in the mining industry as well. Delair has managed to sign a contract with Eramet, a mining group, who will be using Delair’s drones to help survey, inspect, and analyze 300,000 hectares of its operations. The drones will also be used to help map the mining grounds where Eramet is operating, which includes countries such as New Caledonia, Gabon, Senegal and Indonesia.
Delair isn’t exactly new to the drone business, but the company has been growing its operations. Back in 2018, they acquired US company Airware’s key assets which probably helped them land this contract with Eramet. This is because the assets they acquired from Airware include the Redbird analytics software that specialized in mining, quarrying, and construction.
According to Delair’s CEO Michaël De Lagarde, “Our software will become the major source of revenue in the years to come.”
Filed in . Read more about Drones.