Pardon the pun, but we’re sure you’ve heard the buzz. Drones are showing up in everything from inspections to emergency response around the mine site. If you’re considering integrating or expanding drone use at your site, how will you know what will be a tool of real value and not just a distraction?
We’ve laid out the key concerns most decision-makers are faced with, and provided you with clear, practical answers to help you evaluate your path forward.
1. What’s the actual business case?
“I don’t want toys. I want tools.”
I care about uptime, production efficiency, safety, compliance, asset longevity, and incident response.
- How do drones improve my KPIs and save me time, money, or manpower?
- Can you show me real use cases from other mines like ours?
- What’s the ROI of training one of my team versus hiring contractors?
Drones are force-multipliers. By enabling more regular data collection – because it’s cheaper, easier and faster to obtain than traditional methods – you can keep your employed expertise focussed on the important parts of the process like decision-making. Which they can do a better job of because they have better data. This data can provide insights into proactive maintenance actions, progress tracking and material flow optimization while at the same time reducing exposure for staff.
Organizations like Agnico Eagle, Teck and Glencore are successfully using drones for a variety of use cases.
Training internal staff typically pays off after 2-3 missions. Having on-site staff ready to fly means fewer scheduling delays, retention of data and the ability to scale with minimal marginal cost. Depending on the certification, pilot training for one internal team member will run you ~$1500.
Contractors may be more suitable if low-frequency, specialized-use equipment is required, like for non-destructive testing.
FLYY offers tailored RPAS certification and hands-on training programs for mining operators, including BVLOS-readiness. Click here to learn more.
2. Are we even allowed to fly drones on or around our site?
“What’s legal and what’s not?”
I don’t want to unintentionally break Transport Canada rules or get flagged for safety violations.
- What certifications or permissions are legally required?
- Can we operate drones near haul roads or over people?
- What are the risks of doing it wrong?
It can be helpful to chat with a regulatory expert to get the specifics of your site’s operating environment but generally it comes down to certification in three areas – the pilot, the procedures and the drone. (or “product” if you want to keep the alliteration going).
The pilot needs certification for the operational category they want to fly in. The options – basic, advanced or level 1 complex – depend on where the drone will be in relation to the pilot, bystanders, and controlled airspace. Procedures refers to documents that support the operation, including operator certification for BVLOS flights (more on the RPOC here), site survey, normal and emergency checklists. The drone manufacturer will also provide information on how the drone can be used, which needs to be followed in order to maintain compliance, and likely insurance and warranty coverage too. This includes how close to bystanders you can safely operate. But if all personnel on site have been briefed and are aware of the operation, they’re no longer bystanders. Overhead flight of crew – particularly those in PPE already – is permitted.
Transport Canada tends to adopt an education-first policy with infractions, whenever able. There are, however, fines or AMPs (administrative monetary penalties) for non-compliance that can extend up to $25 000 for organizations. The rules are comprehensive, but logical. This is part of the reason ground school training is recommended for all certification levels. When you fully understand the scope of what’s allowed and why some things aren’t, you can actually get more done and get it done safely.
3. Do we need to hire someone new, or can this fit into an existing role?
“I’m not adding headcount unless it’s critical.”
If drone ops are going to require a full-time specialist, I want to understand if that’s worth it. Or can a planner, safety officer, or maintenance lead be trained to do this on the side?
- Can this scale up or stay small?
- Who typically operates drones in other mining companies?
- What kind of training commitment is needed?
Becoming a drone pilot is a great side-of-the-desk project. As the RPAS program begins to scale beyond 5 pilots or so, a program manager/accountable executive role may be required. It isn’t typically too hard to convince someone to lead, and can likely be an extension or replacement of duties. The role can scale with your adoption.
Typically we see lead interest from those in emergency management, asset protection, or planning and reliability.
Training takes a few days initially, and requires a couple hours of recurrent training every 24 months to satisfy certification requirements and it is advisable to factor in familiarity training prior to every flying season.
4. What do I need beyond the drone itself?
“I don’t want to be surprised by a bunch of extra costs later.”
What’s really involved in getting this off the ground and keeping it running?
- What does a drone pilot need in terms of hardware, software, and support?
- What happens if there’s an incident?
- How is data stored, managed, and protected?
The drone, the pilot certification and standard operating procedures are the biggest initial resource investment. Other costs to anticipate are listed below for your consideration, as it depends a lot on what the drone will be used for:
- Transport Canada drone registration ($10)
- Transport Canada certification issuance (~$25)
- Transport Canada exam fees (~$10)
- Extra drone batteries (~$100)
- Landing pad (~$75)
- Data processing software subscription ($0-$3000/yr)
- SD Cards ($30-$100)
- Spare parts (~$50)
- Insurance (~$500/yr)
- Cones/signage (~$75)
- First Aid Kit ($50)
- Fire extinguisher ($120)
- Data storage ($0-$2000/yr)
Incidents have record-keeping requirements, but are only reportable if they cause serious injury or death, or impact traditional aircraft operations. If the drone is damaged, you’ll likely be dealing with insurance and/or the manufacturer.
There is flexibility in how you store the data your drone collects. It can be stored locally on physical drives, or using online cloud storage that meets your organization’s policy requirements around storage, management, and protection.
5. Is this a passing trend, or is it something we need to invest in now?
“I’ve seen a lot of shiny tech come and go.”
Are drones “nice to have” or “need to have” in mining? We don’t want to get left behind or be at a disadvantage, but it wouldn’t be the first time technology was supposed to solve all my problems.
- Are regulators, insurers, or corporate partners starting to expect this capability?
- Are drones replacing or augmenting traditional processes?
- Are other mines seeing measurable results or is it still early?
Drones (and robotics in general) have shifted firmly into “need to have” territory. It’s not a future trend, it’s a competitive advantage today! We’re now over 5 years with formal regulatory frameworks, and recent publications expand those to Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations as well.
Drones are essential for operators who prioritize safety, efficiency and ESG reporting because they provide faster, and more accurate results than traditional methods alone. We’re not replacing skilled personnel, we’re giving them better tools for critical tasks like volumetric analysis, environmental monitoring, infrastructure inspection and emergency response.
We may not have specific quantitative data on drone ROI, but qualitative reports show a measurable positive impact on costs reduction, downtime minimization and compliance.
6. How does this affect our safety protocols?
“Nothing is worth compromising safety.”
Show me that drones don’t introduce new risks or violate any of our safety management systems.
- How are drones integrated into emergency response or site safety plans?
- What procedures or oversight are required?
- Can drone use actually improve our safety outcomes?
Used properly, drones don’t compromise safety, they raise the bar for it.
Transport Canada mandates site-specific and operational checklists with items that can be integrated into existing standard operating procedures, or stand on their own. With well-established procedures, drone flights can be managed by one or two crew members safely in the majority of scenarios. Higher-level oversight is helpful to manage pilot recency, aircraft maintenance and procedural improvements for ongoing hazard reduction.
By reducing the need for workers to enter hazardous areas like unstable slopes, elevated conveyors or post-blast zones, drones directly lower exposure risk. Caged or tethered drones can be used underground or in indoor environments to produce maps for normal or emergency scenario use.
Whether it’s proactive wildfire assessment, wildlife tracking, or wetland monitoring, environmental professionals often work in areas far from infrastructure. The new rules support government agencies, researchers, and NGOs in gathering real-time data without the delays of traditional field logistics.
Use cases:
- Wildfire fuel assessment
- Monitoring remote habitats or migration paths
- Aerial surveys for forest health and land change
As wildfires and extreme weather increase, BVLOS-enabled environmental monitoring becomes a vital public good.
7. Who’s responsible for compliance and maintenance?
“I need this program to be sustainable, not a pet project.”
I want assurance that the program won’t fizzle out or become non-compliant over time.
- Who’s accountable for staying current with Transport Canada requirements?
- What’s the expected lifecycle of the drone and associated systems?
- Can we get help building SOPs and documentation?
Ultimately it is the pilot’s responsibility to make sure that they’re current, the drone is safe, and the operation is legal before they fly. In practice, as operations scale, this typically includes someone being designated as the accountable person for maintaining RPAS certifications, updating SOPs, ensuring flights get logged, and crew are staying current with Transport Canada requirements. That’s often a supervisor, planner, or engineer who oversees day-to-day operations.
In terms of hardware, most commercial drones have a 3–5 year lifecycle with regular firmware updates, but it’s the program, not just the drone, that needs long-term support. That’s why many mining groups partner with RPAS training providers like FLYY to help develop and maintain SOPs, training documentation, and operational manuals that are tailored to Canadian regulations and site conditions. With the right structure in place, your drone program won’t just stay compliant. It will grow into a valuable operational asset.
Still left with questions? Book 30 minutes of FREE consulting with our Training and Regulation Specialist
Kate Klassen by clicking here or shoot her an email at kate@indrorobotics.com.
