You have probably heard people say things like “Ain’t technology wonderful?” Well, it can also be surprising. One of the most famous relatively new technological advances is the drone. UAVs can be used for all sorts of tasks, but I bet you never though of using drones to find gold. Since they are used for so many purposes, why not gold prospecting?
While drones are hardly the most common ways of prospecting for gold. In fact, they aren’t really going to “find” any gold for us, but they are a tool that can help us find places to hunt.
There are many good reasons for using our flying friends. One is simple efficiency, as they can save a huge amount of time when exploring much wider areas. Another is the difficulty of exploring certain hard to access areas. There is just so much desert to be explored and so many hills to climb.
How Exactly is a Drone Going to Help You Find Gold?
The simplest and most logical way to discover gold from a drone is with a video camera. There is a great difference in the capabilities of different types of cameras. (Of course, the superior equipment costs a superior price.) Any decent camera will return images in 3D, making the information much more useful.
The benefits of using a drone mounted camera can be huge in terms of efficiency and the ability to search areas difficult to explore on foot. The increased amount of area explored from the sky can be dramatic.
Generally, you would start by use general research information to find a potential prospecting area. Then you can use aerial imagery like Google Earth to first locate promising area to explore.
If the site is located close to a road then you might not need a drone, but if it is a long hike you can use the drone to get there in a matter of minutes rather than hours!
Once a promising site has viewed from the air, it can be examined to determine if further investigation is warranted. You can spot things like old diggings and mining activity that is a sure bet that there is gold in the area.
Finding Metallic Ore Bodies with Drone Technology
Some mining companies have gone beyond the visual images and actually attached equipment to their drones that can sense large ore bodies for potential mining.
An even more scientifically advanced means of mapping the underground is Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This is contained in a machine which sits on the surface and directs electromagnetic waves at the ground and can accurately map about 10 feet or so beneath the surface. However, thanks to the newest technology is our brave new world, a few types of drones can map 3 feet or so underground from low altitude, depending on the soil composition.
This seems like it would be an incredible advantage to cover serious ground. This may not yet apply to the average prospector using a metal detector, but some day it may very well be that a person could use a drone to locate actual targets. Time will tell…
Isn’t Using a Drone Prohibitively Expensive?
Well, the answer is both yes and no. A top quality drone can cost in the thousands of dollars. However, a comparatively simple drone which is good enough to search small parks and should cost only $400 or so. A higher quality drone with longer range and better detection equipment might cost $900.
Using a drone in your gold prospecting efforts will ultimately come down to personal preference. Some may consider it a hinderance more than an effective tool, but I would suspect that in a few years drones will become more frequent in the goldfields as people become more accustomed to the technology.
Next: Minerals Associated with Natural Gold