RocketDNA (ASX:RKT) has secured a three-year purchase order to supply its autonomous xBot surveying system to Gold Road Resources’ (ASX:GOR) and Gold Fields’ (JSE:GFI) joint venture Gruyere Gold Mine in Western Australia.
The $490,000 contract includes the supply and maintenance of a SurveyBot drone-in-a-box system, remote piloting services, and access to RocketDNA’s SiteTube visualisation platform. The integrated solution enables daily autonomous drone flights, with data securely delivered to site managers and engineers via cloud-based systems.
At Gruyere, the SurveyBot will deliver daily open pit surveys for conformance, blast planning, and volumetrics, as well as stockpile surveys for inventory tracking and daily high-resolution imagery and video.
The SurveyBot will also live-stream capabilities for off-site management and planning teams.
Integrating these services is expected to generate operational efficiencies, improving data turnaround times, and enabling informed decision-making from remote locations.
CEO Christopher Clark says the company is “excited” to help Gold Fields deliver on their productivity and safety goals.
“This long-term agreement reflects the growing demand for remote autonomous data services and underscores the strategic value of our xBot platform within the day-to-day operations of tier one mining customers,” Clark says.
RocketDNA’s xBot system is a site-ready autonomous drone platform. The unit is built to operate autonomously and is monitored remotely via Civil Aviation Safety Authority-certified pilots.
The Gruyere Gold Mine is a 50:50 joint venture and operates on a large-scale as a low-grade open pit operation with ore processed through a 9.6 million tonnes per year carbon-in-leach plant.
In May 2025, Gold Fields entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Gold Road via a scheme of arrangement. The transaction is expected to be completed in October 2025.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Gold Fields
