Case Study: Jellinbah Group improves mine surveys with Wingtra drone mapping

VTOL drone surveys improve operations at established Australian coal mine

Jellinbah Group, an Australian coal mining operator, needed a faster and more cost-effective way to survey its large 84 km² site. After years of relying on terrestrial and airplane surveys, the company found those methods too slow, too expensive, and not frequent enough for effective mine planning and monitoring, especially for large areas where quadcopters were inefficient. Wingtra’s fixed-wing drone solution, the WingtraOne with RX1R II payload, offered a better alternative for broad-area, high-accuracy surveying.

With Wingtra, Jellinbah Group now conducts drone surveys about twice a month, often capturing large pit and dump areas in a single flight with high detail and PPK accuracy. The company reduced survey time from hours or days to around 30 minutes of flight time and less than an hour total, while saving an estimated AUD 4,700 per month versus airplane surveys and AUD 2,100 per month versus terrestrial surveys. Wingtra also improved volume measurements, reconciliation, and contract oversight, helping Jellinbah make better operational decisions with more frequent, accurate site data.

Jellinbah Group

Chris Kelly

Technical Services Superintendent