Where costs to survey expansive land masses has always been the largest impediment to mining discoveries, the evolution of drone technology is playing a big role in lowering those costs as evidenced by the 5-year extension secured by Delta Drone (ASX: DLT) from South32, one of the world’s largest resource companies.

The contract extension continues a hugely successful partnership between the two companies with Delta Drones having provided its aerial data services for the past six years already.

“This reappointment is a testament to our Rocketmine brand and our people on the ground servicing our mining customers every day,” said Delta Drone CEO, Christopher Clark.

“Having a tailored data solution specifically for the mining industry allows us to remove any challenges that come with aerial data collection such as rapid technology advancements and rules and regulations and allows our customers to focus on their core business operations”

The contract will only cover drone services for South32’s operations in South Africa but the resources company also has major projects in South America and Australia which could create future extension opportunities.

Offering a full fleet of drones, Delta Drone labels its core capabilities as “drones-as-a-service” where its customers can undertake mine surveying and real time data collection. Prior to the advancements in drone technology, such services required helicopters and light aircrafts which are substantially more expensive to deploy.

“By offering a full fleet of state-of-the-art drones capable of a magnitude of data collection tasks, along with the latest software and fully qualified pilots, we can solve a range of challenges our mining customers face,” added Clark.

“Our ability to quickly pivot and provide services outside our core remit to solve additional data challenges is a real bonus for our customers and will become a must-have for businesses looking to outsource data services in the future.”

Collecting topographic data, Rocketmine then processes the data using 3D digital modelling to create digital replicas of entire mine sites enabling customers to plan and visualise infrastructure progress.

While the mining industry is a major market for Delta Drone’s technology, the Company is also expanding its presence in the agriculture industry under the Rocketfarm brand where similar data collection and modelling can optimise farming yields.