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Tailings Dam Monitoring

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Category

  • Impact assessment
  • Land cover / use
  • Near surface geology
  • Precision ortho-images
  • Terrain information
  • Water quantity & quality

Uses

Monitoring the surface movements during mining operations

Challenges addressed

  • Development and Operations – Ground Stability/Geotechnical
  • Closure and Aftercare – Affected Stakeholders

Geo-information needs

  • DO-14: Tailings Storage Facilities stability

Description

This product provides information on the tailings dam during mining operations, based on the satellite-based InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) technique. It provides mm-precise measurements over large areas on a weekly-monthly basis and can serve as scanning tool for the complete area above the mine and the direct environment. Depending on the satellite, up to 100,000 measurements per km2 can be obtained.

Typical mining applications of this product are monitoring of ground and slope motion and the effects of the mining operation on the environment. The advantages are that large areas can be monitored on a regular basis, in a fully automated manner and without human intervention, providing a spatially dense view of the effects of mining operations. Furthermore, by using satellites, a uniform data format and quality can be obtained over all mines in the portfolio.

InSAR is based on radar images, as acquired by various radar satellites. The products from these satellites differ in terms of number of measurements per km2, measurement frequency, price (free vs. commercial imagery) and availability. In most locations worldwide there is imagery available dating back to 2015 and for some locations even back to 1992. Therefore, it is easy to obtain a baseline for deformations around of tailings dam and thereby context of what is or has been happening. By using multiple satellites, vertical as well as horizontal (in the east-west direction) movements can be tracked.

Triggers can be implemented to warn mining operators in case of tailings dam movement is reaching pre-defined thresholds set by the regulator or when the above ground infrastructure is at risk. This allows for intervening before a potential accident happens.

Known restrictions / limitations

The satellite’s ability to accurately measure surface motion is dependent on the reflectivity characteristics of the surface which is generally the case for tailings dam.

Lifecycle stage and demand

Exploration

Environmental Assessment and Permitting

Design, Construction and Operations

Mine Closure and Aftercare


 

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Design, Construction & Operations:

  • Construction & Operations: Monitoring tailings dam in operational mines

Mine Closure & Aftercare:

  • Monitoring tailings dam after mine closure

Geographic coverage

Global coverage

EARSC Thematic Domain

Domain

Land
Sub-domainGeology
Product descriptionMonitor mineral extraction

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

Input data sources

SatelliteSentinel-1TerraSAR-XRadarSat-2COSMO-SkyMedICEYE-X2
StatusIn operationIn operationIn operationIn operationIn operation
OperatorESAAirbus Defence & SpaceMDAe-GeosICEYE
Data availabilityPublicCommercial, on demandCommercial, on demandCommercial, on demandCommercial, on demand
Resolution (m)20x43x3 or 1x125x7 or 5x5 or 3x33x3 or 1x1< 1
CoverageGlobalGlobalGlobalGlobalGlobal
Frequency (days)6-1211244-16< 1
Launch year20142007200720072019

Website

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Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU)

The satellite can detect very small features (~decimeters), provided that objects and/or surfaces of interest reflect well enough. Generally, solid, stable, angular objects are the best reflectors.

Accuracy / constraints

Thematic accuracy:

The technique works best on solid, angular objects like solid rock.

Spatial accuracy:

Dependent on the satellite resolution. The measurement can be located on sub-pixel level, typically in the order of 1-5 meters.

Measurement accuracy:

The deformation/movement of the tailings dam can be determined with a precision of around 1 mm/yr.

Accuracy assessment approach & quality control measures

The quality is assessed by automated, thoroughly tested, quality control algorithms, delivering validated results. The quality of the product and the approach taken are described in an automatically generated report, ensuring high quality and reproducibility.

Frequency / timeliness

Observation frequency:

Depending on the satellite, varying from daily to 24 days.

Timeliness of delivery:

Depending on the satellite provider, the service provider and the type of application (within 1-5 working days).

Availability

  • Global coverage with free imagery, lower resolution, including archive since 2015 and in some locations since 1992.
  • Global coverage on demand with paid imagery, higher resolution. Archive imagery available in some locations.

Delivery / output format

  • Data via API (Application Programming Interface), as GIS file format (geopackage, shapefile, .kml, .csv, etc.) or in a webviewer.
  • Triggers via API or email.
  • Automated reporting in pdf.

USE CASE

This product is part of the project’s service demonstration. Use case will be added soon.


 


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