What are the major developments at Exyn Technologies since we last spoke in 2021?

Exyn Technologies (Exyn) has experienced a lot of growth; we have opened offices in Chile, kicked off a global partner program with partners in Mexico, Peru, Africa and Australia, and are in the process of opening a new office in Germany. While we started out exclusively offering aerial platforms, we now provide hardware-agnostic geospatial services. We have integrated our autonomous solutions into ground-based robots and are now present at over 50 mines internationally, actively realizing the short-interval control dreams of our clients.

In 2022 we completed our US$35 million series B funding round. We will continue to prioritize R&D, with one of our goals being to harden and ruggedize our existing products. We are growing our sales team to ensure we have worldwide coverage to pursue our expansion plan. We are in a good place right now with strong management and great products already on the market with more in the pipeline. Have you noticed a difference between your Canadian and American mining clients when it comes to the adoption of new automated technologies?

We have not noticed any significant divide between the two jurisdictions. The main factors impacting adoption are budget and management styles – some companies simply do not have the budget to adopt certain solutions. We have noticed a general increase in adoption rates recently across borders. Drones and robots allow operations to be carried out faster, more accurately, and most importantly – safely. It is becoming increasingly difficult for mining companies to ignore this fact.

We have seen a huge uptick in adoption rates in northern Ontario, as it has become a mining technology hub. Cities like Sudbury are even surpassing places like Colorado, Nevada and Toronto when it comes to mining technology. Other notable hubs are Denver, and parts of Germany, where very interesting things are happening in the robotics and AI space, both in mining and in other sectors.

I think that the workforce has become more tech-savvy than ever. As such, the average miner from just 10 years ago would have been far more apprehensive about operating a drone underground compared to the average miner today. This is also contributing to the increasing adoption rate of our technologies. Do you think the mining industry is eager to adopt technologies like AI and robotics in its operations?

The adoption of technologies like AI and robotics in the mining industry has been a growing trend in recent years thanks to the improvements in efficiency, safety, operations, and resource optimization they provide. Around five years ago, we began observing a noticeable change in the attitudes of mining companies towards autonomous solutions, for example. This period also coincided with the first deployments of our solutions in underground mines. At the time it was quite difficult for some mining companies to fathom flying an autonomous drone underground. Today, mining companies are looking for more ways to use robotics and AI to optimize their operations across all their work efforts. What is coming next for the ExynAero?

The biggest opportunities we have now are on the hardware side. We are actively working with multiple manufacturers on a smaller-sized drone that can accommodate our payload while allowing us to fly in much smaller spaces, like the narrow-vein mines found in Africa for instance. Our software enables us to carry out missions so quickly, battery life is never a major limitation as it can be with other platforms. ExynAero flies at speeds of 2 m/s, allowing us to cover a lot of ground in a seven- or eight-minute flight. How do your products improve mine safety?

Using traditional tools, surveyors would have to be very near the face or underground over a long period of time. With our products, surveyors can be a safe distance away, as a several-minute mission achieves what would have taken surveyors hours to do previously using traditional methods.

Another area adjacent to safety where our product can help is mine rescue. Our products can quickly and accurately provide mine rescuers with a complete image of the scenario underground before physically entering a dangerous area. Additional sensors can be added to the payload to test air quality, fumes, etc.