MOSCOW, April 9. /TASS/. The Norilsk Nickel Company plans to make an unmanned aerial vehicle, which could move independently inside mines, the company’s representative Levon Kirakosyan told reporters at during an IT show.

"We have tried using a drone under the ground without GPS communication, <…> we have recorded test videos, and now we understand certain aspects of controlling a drone under the ground," he said. "Our final objective is to make a drone, which may move independently under the ground, not requiring an operator - you come, put it next to the mine’s entrance, it flies down there, inspects it fully, returns and lands - that’s it, and we receive a recorded video and the mine’s 3D model."

This technology, he explained, will improve the security - as yet, a person has to go down the mine to do this inspection.

Head of the Industrial Automation Department at Nornickel’s Polar Division Vadim Naftal said the company had tested in the mine’s remote areas at the Kayerkansky mine. "The results are very good, <…> the potential is obvious."

About Nornickel

Norilsk Nickel is a diversified mining and metallurgical company, the world’s largest producer of refined nickel and palladium and a leading producer of platinum, cobalt, copper and rhodium. The company also produces gold, silver, iridium, selenium, ruthenium and tellurium.

The production units of Norilsk Nickel Group include the Polar Division, located at the Norilsk Industrial District on the Taimyr Peninsula, and Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company located on the Kola Peninsula in Russia as well as Harjavalta nickel refinery in Finland.

The Automation and Information Technologies 2018 show was in Norilsk on April 3-4. The event featured representatives of 27 companies.