Global mining-focused alternative investments firm Resource Capital Funds has committed $2 million to commercialse a robotic mining data collection system that can be operated without pausing automated production equipment.

The initial funding to Brisbane-based early-stage company ADR will be drawn from the RCF Jolimont Innovation II fund, which is managed by a Melbourne team. Further funding is scheduled to follow, on achievement of progress milestones.

The funding will be used to advance commercialisation of ADR’s new Explora Remote Data Acquisition (RDA) system and scale-up the company.

The Explora RDA system comprises a range of sensors mounted on a remotely controlled vehicle which, when not in use, remains in a docking station in the production area of a mine. The vehicle can be deployed, without needing to pause mining operations, to carry out mapping, surveying, after-blast re-entry inspection, ventilation monitoring and other tasks. The information collected is relayed in real-time to the remote-control base.

ADR co-founder and chief executive Dr Joe Cronin said the Explora RDA system will enable mining companies to eliminate human entry into mining zones which are increasingly the domain of automated equipment.

“Every mining company has a team of geotechnical professionals and mining engineers who regularly have to travel to production areas, stop production and take measurements and conduct inspections,” he said.

“You just can’t have 50 tonne trucks and loaders, which have limited visibility, operating in the same area as humans. This requires mine operators to stop production on a regular basis to get the data needed to operate the mine.”

Cronin said he believed use of the Explora RDA system could increase production time by 5-7% at most mines.

Alongside the investment, ADR will receive strategic guidance from RCF partner Lyle Bruce, who led mining technology company Ground Probe from a start-up to a multi-national business employing more than 160 people.

Bruce said ADR was working to make mining safer, cleaner and more efficient through the application of advanced robotics. This was important to support global demand for critical minerals, driven by the energy transition.

The Explora RDA system is an advance on ADR’s Explora XL Robot which can also autonomously carry out mine data collection but needs to be retrieved for the data to be uploaded.

The XL model made mining industry news in 2021 when ten of the robots were used to inspect a collapsed area in a deep limestone mine in Tennessee. The robots helped get the mine back into operation without risk to human life.   

Image: ADR chief executive Dr Joe Cronin and RCF partner Lyle Bruce with one of ADR’s Explora RDA robotic vehicles.