University of Queensland experts have helped develop a drone-mounted imaging system hailed by the European Union as a gamechanger for mineral exploration.

The system uses remote sensing technology and complex physics to give users a near-instant 3D mesh of a survey area and clues as to what lies underground. 

It was developed by geoscience and remote sensing researchers from UQ’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) as part of a European-led m4mining consortium. 

Image at top of page: SMI researchers oversaw final validation of the technology in Brisbane. 

“SMI was recruited to provide the consortium with a bridge to the resources industry and to interpret data captured during case studies in regional Queensland before a final validation flight in Brisbane,” UQ Drone Collaborative Research Platform lead Associate Professor Steve Micklethwaite said. 

“We confirmed the processing power of the Norwegian-engineered technology allowed for near-immediate access to complex aerial mapping data, instead of users having to wait weeks or even months to see results.” 

Dr Micklethwaite said hyperspectral image processors had been used on drones before, but processing the data post-mission had taken ‘a deceptively long time’.  

“With this system, data you capture comes in a useable format when the machine touches down,” he said. “It is real-time processing that allows users to make fast, informed decisions about their projects.”

The consortium is led by Norwegian research centre NORCE and imaging company Norsk Elektro Optikk AS, which produces technology under the HySpex brand.  

It was seeded with $7.3 million (€4.5 million) from Horizon Europe for a system to boost material characterisation during exploration, extraction, re-mining, and environmental impact monitoring.

Evaluators for the European Commission said the result represented a paradigm shift in how hyperspectral data could be acquired, processed, and utilised in complex mining environments.

HySpex has since integrated the m4mining technology into a commercial hyperspectral imaging product called BiFrost that it plans to launch to the public in the coming months.