Define the survey
Survey boundary, access points, terrain context and operating constraints.
BlueCap Australia
High-fidelity Drone Magnetic Survey & Mapping
BlueCap is equipped for high-throughput manufacturing and replication in Australia & Vietnam
BlueCap is equipped for high-throughput
manufacturing and replication in Australia & Vietnam
Flight line-km per day throughput (single-pass)
≈700line-km/day
1x helicopter
≈2,100line-km/day
3x helicopters
Density & Line Design via online flight planner:
Line spacing: 25, 50, 100 m
- Tie-line spacing: 250...1,500 m
- Altitude control: ±1 m from LiDAR DSM
- Platform flight speed: 80...140 km/h
Standard Magnetics Deliverables
Standard magnetic survey deliverables are included within the BlueCap drone survey service and are intended for direct use by the client’s geophysics, GIS, and interpretation teams.
- Standard deliverables are included within the day-rate survey billing model and are not charged separately by flight distance, survey duration, data frequency, or database size.
Deliverables include fully time-synchronized datasets from all BlueCapBird® airborne magnetometer systems together with the BlueCapBird® **Base Station Diurnal Monitor **(Ground Reference Magnetometer), supplied in a unified database structure and identical data format.
Raw, unfiltered flight-line data are delivered through controlled read-only PostgreSQL database access, allowing direct integration with Oasis montaj, custom processing pipelines, GIS platforms, and third-party geophysical software environments. Database connection details and a concise data dictionary (schema and field definitions) are provided as part of the standard delivery package.
Standard TMI Deliverable
- TMI (Total Magnetic Intensity) grids can be provided as standard processed deliverables, generated from airborne magnetic measurements using synchronized ground reference magnetometer data, diurnal correction, IGRF removal, and standard levelling workflows.
- Resulting grids are supplied as georeferenced GIS-ready rasters suitable for direct visualization, interpretation, and downstream geophysical processing.
Advanced interpretation-ready magnetic products are available under separate agreement within the Optional Magnetics Deliverables scope, including precision levelling and microlevelling, advanced filtering, RTP transformation, vertical derivatives, analytic signal products, inversion, structural interpretation, mapping, and other client-specific geophysical deliverables.
BlueCapBird® airborne & ground reference magnetometers datasets
QuSpin QTFM gen2 magnetometer
- downsampled from 1 kHz to ~30 Hz using anti-alias decimation polyphase FIR then stabilised with a lightweight Kalman filter
- low-pass filter** disabled**
- frame time (ms since start)
- scalar magnetic field |B|
- sensitivity / error metric
- measurement validity flag (true/false)
Accelerometer (Ax, Ay, Az) & Gyroscope (Gx, Gy, Gz)
**GNSS **in WGS84:
- LON/LAT (**~0.1–0.5 m **accuracy)
- Altitude (ellipsoidal)
- Dilution of Precision (DOP)
Horizontal Dilution of Precision (HDOP) + Vertical Dilution of Precision (VDOP)
LiDAR altitude / terrain clearance (cm):
- Distance to the nearest reflective surface return
- Downsampled 400Hz to 30Hz
Time (millisecond resolution): GNSS time in UTC
Battery voltage (V)
- to 2 decimal places
- voltage consumption rate (V/min)
Database format
As part of the standard deliverables, we provide a high-rate 20–30 Hz time series dataset where each record contains the full set of measurements from all onboard sensors.
- Сloud secured PostgreSQL database
- Real-time read-only access: host, port, database name, username, password, whitelisting
QuSpin QTFM gen2 magnetometer
- downsampled from 1 kHz to ~30 Hz using anti-alias decimation polyphase FIR then stabilised with a lightweight Kalman filter
- low-pass filter** disabled**
- frame time (ms since start)
- scalar magnetic field |B|
- sensitivity / error metric
- measurement validity flag (true/false)
Accelerometer (Ax, Ay, Az) & Gyroscope (Gx, Gy, Gz)
**GNSS **in WGS84:
- LON/LAT (**~0.1–0.5 m **accuracy)
- Altitude (ellipsoidal)
- Dilution of Precision (DOP)
Horizontal Dilution of Precision (HDOP) + Vertical Dilution of Precision (VDOP)
LiDAR altitude / terrain clearance (cm):
- Distance to the nearest reflective surface return
- Downsampled 400Hz to 30Hz
Time (millisecond resolution): GNSS time in UTC
Battery voltage (V)
- to 2 decimal places
- voltage consumption rate (V/min)
As part of the standard deliverables, we provide a high-rate 20–30 Hz time series dataset where each record contains the full set of measurements from all onboard sensors.
- Сloud secured PostgreSQL database
- Real-time read-only access: host, port, database name, username, password, whitelisting
Optional Magnetics Deliverables
BlueCap already operates automated cloud-based magnetic processing pipelines on BlueCap-owned dedicated 16-core server infrastructure hosted in a Melbourne data centre, capable of generating near-real-time geophysical products with minimal manual intervention.
The client’s geophysics team can execute project-tailored algorithms, filtering routines, and processing workflows (primarily developed in Python using an extensive stack of geophysical processing modules and scientific libraries) continuously refined and adapted for each survey directly on BlueCap infrastructure, significantly reducing turnaround time, improving processing consistency, and minimizing human-factor errors.
This approach is intended** to support — not replace** — the client’s geophysicists and interpreters by automating repetitive processing stages while preserving expert geological and geophysical interpretation workflows.
The system is particularly effective for large-scale surveys exceeding 2,000 line-km, where conventional manual processing workflows become operationally inefficient and time-intensive.
- Under a separate professional services agreement;
- Billed on a time-and-materials basis at A$290/h (GST inc).
Enhanced Magnetic Derivative & Inversion Products
- RTP (Reduction to the Pole) — transforms magnetic anomalies to positions more directly above their causative bodies, simplifying structural and lithological interpretation at low and mid magnetic latitudes.
- First & Second Vertical Derivatives (1VD / 2VD) — enhance shallow magnetic sources, edges, contacts, faults, and fine-scale geological structures by increasing short-wavelength anomaly contrast.
- Analytic Signal (AS) — highlights edges and centres of magnetic bodies with reduced sensitivity to magnetization direction, useful for mapping contacts and structural trends.
- Tilt Derivative (TDR) — improves visualization of subtle magnetic boundaries and weak anomalies while reducing amplitude dominance from strong sources, commonly used for fault and lineament interpretation.
- Total Horizontal Derivative (THDR) — emphasizes lateral gradients and geological boundaries, assisting delineation of contacts, dykes, shear zones, and structural discontinuities.
- Upward Continuation — suppresses shallow near-surface responses to enhance broader regional magnetic trends and deeper geological structures.
- Low-pass / High-pass Filtered Products — separate regional and local magnetic responses to isolate deep crustal trends or shallow exploration-scale anomalies depending on target objectives.
- Lineament Extraction — semi-automated extraction of magnetic lineaments, faults, contacts, and structural trends from derivative and filtered magnetic datasets.
- 3D Magnetic Susceptibility Inversion — generates volumetric subsurface susceptibility models from magnetic field data to support geological interpretation, structural analysis, and drill targeting.
Deliverable Formats & Metadata
Outputs partially generated and standardized through BlueCap custom automated magnetic processing software and project-specific workflows
- GeoTIFF, GeoPackage (.gpkg), Geosoft grid, and PDF/PNG outputs
- Full CRS / projection metadata
- Grid resolution and processing parameters
- GIS- and Oasis montaj-compatible deliverables
the modern 2024-2026 replacement for manned geomagnetics and typical elecrtic drone offerings
clean, physics-true measurements
real-time previews
same-day delivery
Common Pitfalls in conventional UAV Magnetics — Solved by BlueCap
Mineral explorers who rely on providers still flying conventional UAV geomagnetics have repeatedly lost tens of $ millions on a project — because they trust polished, heavily post-processed geomagnetic maps that are not physics-true measurements. As a result, explorers** drill many barren holes on false positives** — while concealed targets are never flagged by the survey.
From acquisition to drilling: what experience taught BlueCap Minerals
- 10+ years of BlueCap team experience — our Australian geophysicists, post-processing specialists, and drone pilots have run drone geomagnetics across multiple countries long before BlueCap was incorporated.
- Across measurement methodologies — BlueCap Team has worked with legacy and newer acquisition/processing stacks and repeatedly observed the same issues: DEM/AGL height error, platform (own-field) noise, and smoothing that erases short wavelengths.
- Post-processing reality — BlueCap team builds and tunes pipelines, so we know where algorithms truly clean — and where they must infer / paint in missing signal.
- BlueCap Feedback loop with explorers — ongoing client reports underscore how legacy UAV geomagnetics diverge from drilling reality, whereas our datasets hold up.
The 35 m AGL problem in steep terrain
At a planned 35 m AGL and a survey speed of 15 m/s, a multirotor that cannot descend with rapidly falling terrain can accumulate approximately ±5 m or more of momentary height error in practical steep-country operations. That is not a cosmetic flight-path deviation. For a shallow compact source approximated as a dipole, response scales roughly with 1/r³:
- flying at 30 m instead of 35 m can make the same source appear approximately 59% too strong;
- flying at 40 m instead of 35 m can make it appear approximately 33% too weak;
- a 10 m error can produce approximately +174% or −53% amplitude error, depending on whether the aircraft is too low or too high.
These are calculated source-distance effects, not BlueCap field measurements. They show why a visually clean map can still contain false amplitude and depth cues when terrain clearance is inaccurate. The geology has not changed; the measurement geometry has.
What goes wrong with conventional UAV magnetics
- Wrong targets and wrong depths — because terrain-following isn’t accurate
Legacy flights ride public DEMs (~99% of jobs) that are 10–50 m off in hills; multirotors add 3–10 m AGL drift — even at ~5 m/s and 35–55 m AGL — so total height error trends to 60 m. The result is ~50–300% amplitude bias and incorrect depth/extent, which misdirects drilling. - Small bodies go unseen — because platform noise dominates the measurement
Modern magnetometers are ultra-sensitive, which means they also “hear” their own platform — electronics, cables, batteries, carbon booms — imprinting own-field contamination. The elevated noise floor sits above the low-amplitude signals you actually need, so many near-surface and narrow anomalies that should be drill-tested never break out of the noise. As a result, valid drill targets are never even flagged. - Pretty maps, bad decisions — because you can’t fix missing physics in post
Geo Magnetic Post-processing can tidy lines and color scales — not recreate signal the sensor never measured. Lost high-frequency content is non-recoverable.
How this hits drilling? Misdirected drilling, wrong depth calls, mis-sized tooling, misplaced pads, schedule creep — and millions in avoidable spend — AUD $0.5–5M for just 10 unnecessary holes. In BlueCap's direct operational assessment, an unverified dataset can plausibly direct 10–20 incorrect holes; the drilling cost can be comparable to what the client could have paid for a higher-quality geomagnetic survey in the first place.
Calculate an indicative magnetic survey cost, schedule and international mobilisation →
Project enquiry
Start with the survey decision
Share the target area, terrain, line spacing, required outputs and operating constraints. We will review whether the project is a suitable fit.
Build the scope
Coverage geometry, line distance, duration and project inputs.
Design the mission
Terrain-aware flight lines, altitude, speed and sensor geometry.
Acquire and review
Field acquisition progress, preliminary coverage and QA/QC indicators.
Process and deliver
Processing outputs, approved reports and final datasets.