JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland government's A$1-million investment in drone technology has been hailed as a “shot in the arm” for the resources sector at large.
Queensland Resources Council CEO Michael Roche on Monday described the funding announcement as a “welcome boost” to the adoption of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) by Shell’s Queensland Gas Company (QGC).
Shell already has a partnership with global aerospace giant The Boeing Company, on which the project for which government funding was announced, would build.
Shell VP for QGC Tony Nunan said in a statement that it had already partnered with Boeing in developing the world’s first commercial use of beyond-line-of-sight RPAS in its gas field operations.
“QGC is proud to be introducing into the project’s operations an emerging technology that will benefit both the resources and agriculture sectors.
“Landowners will benefit, over time, from fewer visits to their properties while QGC and the community will benefit from reduced driving and piloted flying,” he said.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk added that the funding would assist in developing and testing RPAS technologies for adoption by industries including liquefied natural gas, agriculture, mining, energy, telecommunications, search and rescue and environmental management.
“The project aims to capitalise on the capabilities inherent in drones to carry out remote monitoring and inspection of key infrastructure and data analysis to allow for better decision-making,” Palaszczuk said.