Meet the BlueCap Minds

Mr Musinov has held senior executive, technical and operational management roles for over 25 years across engineering, telecommunications, manufacturing and technology sectors, including management of multi-shareholder engineering ventures.

Between 2004 and 2015, Mr Musinov founded, scaled and managed international IT businesses operating across more than 7 offices and employing over 300 personnel over time. These businesses supported more than 1,100 ongoing clients and operated with net profit margins in excess of 75%.

Between 2015 and 2017, Mr Musinov managed surveyor teams on the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout project across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

In 2017, Mr Musinov founded Mira Robotics Corporation in Australia, focused on engineering, development and deployment of heavy drone platforms 75kg MTOW and proprietary systems for long-range contactless delivery of essential goods in remote and industrial environments.

Since 2017, Mr Musinov has led development and operational deployment of drone-based aerial geophysics technologies supporting mineral exploration, including in-house heavy gasoline-powered drone platforms with payload capacities of up to 25 kg. Following eight years of operational involvement in the Australian drone survey sector, Mr Musinov founded BlueCap Minerals in 2023 to further advance heavy drone and aerial geophysics capabilities for exploration and mining operations.

At BlueCap, Mr Musinov serves as Chief Remote Pilot, Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director, leading research and development programs, operational deployment, flight operations, and technical strategy for the company’s drone geophysics platforms.

Mr Gornov is a CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Australia) certified Remote Pilot with operational experience in drone systems dating back to 2015, including aerial survey operations, field maintenance, diagnostics, and remote-area technical support.

At BlueCap, Mr Gornov is responsible for drone flight operations across mountainous terrain, remote operating corridors, and low-visibility environments within approved operational procedures.

His responsibilities include supporting the Chief Remote Pilot (CRP) in flight planning, operational risk assessment, and coordination of drone activities with manned aviation operators, airports, airspace stakeholders, and other remote pilots. His role includes review and optimization of operational plans, identification of potential procedural or operational issues, and support of safe integration of aerial survey operations within controlled and shared airspace environments.

With practical experience across field operations and mechanical systems, Mr Gornov specializes in rapid diagnostics, field repair, maintenance, and replacement of critical drone components in remote environments, supporting continuity of operations and minimizing operational downtime.

Mr Gornov also supports aircraft health monitoring, payload performance assessment, operational logistics, and technical troubleshooting associated with aerial geophysics operations and remote survey deployments.

During flight operations, Mr Gornov monitors and analyses real-time telemetry from dozens of onboard systems across multiple operational displays, allowing early detection of potential aircraft, payload, fuel-system, or flight-control anomalies during remote aerial survey missions.

Mr Gornov also participates in operational preparation, mission execution, and field deployment activities associated with BlueCap’s aerial geophysics programs.

Mr Podgorbuntsev has experience across mineral exploration, geophysics, geological engineering, and resource project management, including operational leadership within exploration and mining businesses in Central Asia and Russia.

Prior to joining BlueCap, Mr Podgorbuntsev was founder and executive manager of a 15-person full-cycle gold exploration and mining company operating across Central Asia and Russia. Under his leadership, the company conducted the complete operational cycle from mineral exploration and geological assessment through to gold extraction and sale of refined bullion products.

At BlueCap, Mr Podgorbuntsev leads geophysics data processing and post-processing operations, including management of large-scale geophysical datasets, LiDAR point cloud processing, cloud-based processing infrastructure, AI-assisted interpretation workflows, and software systems supporting drone survey operations.

His responsibilities include leading teams responsible for development of automated processing pipelines, integration of geophysical and LiDAR datasets, optimization of processing performance across distributed computing environments, and delivery of high-resolution subsurface and terrain models for mineral exploration and drilling target definition.

Mr Podgorbuntsev is an experienced practitioner who has used LLM and AI-assisted setups for many years to accelerate geophysics workflows. In practice, this automation gives him the delivery capacity typically requiring 2–3 geophysicists.

Mr Podgorbuntsev also plays a direct role in BlueCap’s internal drone systems research and development programs associated with aerial geophysics technologies and survey platform integration, including field testing of company equipment, operational validation of survey systems, and piloting of drone platforms during R&D and testing activities.

Mr Balba is an experienced electrical engineer and technical operations specialist with practical experience across rotary-wing drone systems, remote operations, and industrial equipment maintenance.

Mr Balba has been involved with BlueCap since the company’s early development stage and leads the team responsible for assembly, maintenance, repair, and restoration of the BlueCapHeli® fleet.

His responsibilities include quality control, system diagnostics, flight testing, tuning, vibration analysis, and operational validation of rotary-wing platforms prior to deployment in commercial aerial geophysics operations.

Mr Balba also oversees component sourcing, supplier coordination, spare parts logistics, and technical inventory management to support uninterrupted field operations and long-term fleet reliability.

During active missions, Mr Balba remotely monitors helicopter systems in real time, tracks component lifecycles and maintenance intervals, analyses aircraft performance data, and coordinates technical support and field logistics to maintain safe and continuous operations in remote environments.

Mr Balba also participates in internal drone systems research and development programs associated with BlueCap’s heavy rotary-wing aerial geophysics platforms.

Ms Phan is an experienced business operator and manager with practical experience across sales, administration, client relations, and operational coordination in Vietnam.

Prior to joining BlueCap, Ms Phan held a senior sales management role within the technology and equipment supply sector.

Ms Phan is actively involved in development and deployment of drone-based aerial geophysics technologies supporting mineral exploration and mining activities in Vietnam, including introduction of advanced survey systems into challenging mountainous and tropical operating environments.

Government coordination

Her role includes coordination with Vietnamese government departments, regional authorities, and local stakeholders to support implementation of new aerial survey technologies aimed at improving efficiency and accessibility of mineral exploration programs within Vietnam.

Ms Phan also plays a key role in securing operational approvals and coordinating regulatory engagement for drone survey activities in Vietnam, including liaison with the Ministry of National Defence (MND), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), and other government stakeholders associated with aerial survey, mineral exploration and mining operations.