Introduction to Applications from Earth Observation to Proximity Sensing for Safe, Sustainable and Cost-Efficient Mining Operations

Earth Observation (EO) technologies for mining are widely available and currently transitioning from specialized, experimental tools to essential operational capabilities for exploration, safety, and environmental monitoring. The market is driven by high-resolution imagery, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that works through cloud cover, and AI-driven analytics, which allow for real-time monitoring of mine sites and remote exploration. Together with recent advancements in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities, proximity sensing, and positioning technologies, these systems enable accurate multiscale applications from exploration to environmental monitoring in the mining environments, infrastructures and site-specific operations and processes. This book presents remote sensing applications as well as proximity and positioning technologies utilizing advanced data fusion, and it also introduces the Goldeneye platform that employs Artificial Intelligence (AI), including Natural Language Processing to analytical and visualization tools simplifying computational tasks. Demonstrated in five field trials across Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, and Finland, the results show potential for better environmental monitoring as well as for time and cost savings in exploration, mine safety monitoring, and operations reporting. Overall, the technologies and their adaptations contribute to a more responsible and sustainable supply of raw materials within Europe.