NMDC Signs MoU With IIT Kharagpur For Drone-Based Mineral Exploration

India’s largest ore producer, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT Kharagpur for the aim of drone-based mineral exploration.

Drone-based Geophysical Surveys and Hyperspectral Studies for Mineral Exploration would be conducted by NMDC for the primary time in India. The collaboration between NMDC and IIT-Kharagpur will open a replacement era in mineral exploration for the country.

If we talk about Spectral products, algorithms and methods would be developed by IIT Kharagpur and NMDC for exploration using drones (UAV) for mining.

This collaboration would also cause software spectral tools development for the aim of capacity-building programs on mining technology and mineral excavation.

NMDC is hoping for digitalization and technological innovation of its database associated with mining and exploration.

For six decades NMDC has been exploring minerals for a large range of minerals like rock phosphate, copper, magnesite, limestone, tungsten, diamond, and beach sands amongst others right from the G4 reconnaissance level to the detailed G1 level of world organization Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC).

In Madhya Pradesh, exploration for various minerals is being conducted by NMDC and for diamonds, exploration is being conducted in Chhattisgarh’s Beloda-Belmundi block.

NMDC is the first CPSE that’s utilizing space geophysics within the central Indian diamond province and is also the primary to use the BHUVAN platform’s online monitoring of exploration of knowledge.

BHUVAN may be a multi-purpose end-user satellite application platform, also called the Indian version of Google Maps. ISRO is responsible for this platform. As far as the users are concerned, they can explore a 2D/3D representation of the Earth’s surface with this software program.

The browser has been exclusively designed specifically for viewing India. in comparison to other Virtual Globe Software, it provides more detailed images of Indian locations, with spatial resolutions up to 1 metre.