HYDERABAD: State-run iron ore miner NMDC Ltd on Thursday said it has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT Kharagpur for drone-based mineral exploration.
The Hyderabad-based Navratna PSE (public sector enterprise), which is India’s largest iron ore producer will partner with IIT Kharagpur to develop spectral products, methods and algorithms for exploration using UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for mining.
The collaboration would also further lead to the development of software spectral tools for mineral excavation and capacity building programmes on mining technology, NMDC said on Thursday.
NMDC has been exploring for over six decades minerals such as copper, rock phosphate, limestone, magnesite, diamonds, tungsten and beach sands, among others, right from the reconnaissance G4 level to the detailed G1 Level of UNFC (United Nations Framework Classification).
The MoU was inked virtually by NMDC’s director of production DK Mohanty and IIT Kharagpur’s Prof SP Sharma, head of the department of geology & geophysics, and Prof Samir K Pal, head of the department of mining engineering.
Commenting on the tie-up, NMDC chairman & managing director Sumit Deb said NMDC would be the first CPSE in India to conduct drone-based geophysical surveys and hyperspectral studies for mineral exploration.
Pointing out that NMDC is conducting exploration for various minerals in Madhya Pradesh as well as the Beloda-Belmundi block in Chhattisgarh for diamonds, Deb said that NMDC’s tie up with IIT-Kharagpur will open a new chapter and set a benchmark in the field of mineral exploration for the nation.
“NMDC is also the first CPSE to use space geophysics in central Indian diamond province and the first to use online monitoring of exploration of data on the BHUVAN platform. NMDC is increasingly relying on technological innovation and digitalisation of its database related to exploration and mining,” NMDC said.
