The renewed agreement is worth A$2.7 million (US$2.1 million) and will commence in June 2021 for five years. The contract includes a range of aerial survey mapping solutions and real-time data collection services. Delta Drone has already provided drones-as-a-service capabilities for South32 in South Africa for six years.

Christopher Clark, CEO of Delta Drone International, said he is thrilled to be reappointed by its enterprise customer as their preferred data services provider. He commented: "We are honoured to be reappointed by our long-standing enterprise customer, South32, and look forward to delivering their real-time data needs through our fully integrated drone-as-a-service business for the years to come.

"This reappointment is a testament to our Rocketmine brand and our people on the ground servicing our mining customers every day. Having a tailored data solution specifically for the mining industry allows us to remove any challenges that come with aerial data collection such as rapid technology advancements and rules and regulations and allows our customers to focus on their core business operations.

"By offering a full fleet of state-of-the-art drones capable of a magnitude of data collection tasks, along with the latest software and fully qualified pilots, we can solve a range of challenges our mining customers face. Our ability to quickly pivot and provide services outside our core remit to solve additional data challenges is a real bonus for our customers and will become a must-have for businesses looking to outsource data services in the future."

In 2018, Delta Drone's Rocketmine subsidiary became the second drone operator to receive Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight approval from the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).