REMOTE SENSING SUPPORTING SURVEILLANCE AND

OPERATION OF MINES

PROJECT PRESENTATION

OULU, FINLAND

2ND OF FEBRUARY 2016

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RESEM

•Goal to form a consortium with expertise on

remote sensing in mining areas

•Develop novel and cost-efficient surveillance

and management methods for different phases

of mining • Construction and design

•Operation

• Closure and after closure

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NORTHERN AREAS AND MINING

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SUPPORTING ASSOCIATES

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Support Associate: Country:

Geobotnia Oy Finland

Pöyry Finland Oy Finland

Centre for Economic Development,

Transport and the Environment, North

Ostrobothnia

Finland

Centre for Economic Development,

Transport and the Environment, Lapland

Finland

Centre for Economic Development,

Transport and the Environment, Kainuu

Finland

Regional State Administrative Agency for

Northern Finland

Finland

Nordic Mines Finland

Agnico-Eagle Finland

Globesar Norway

LKAB Sweden

TCS AB Sweden

SveMin Sweden

Ramböll AB Sweden

ÅF AB Sweden

Sweco Civil AB Sweden

RESEM CONCEPT

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RESEM STRUCTURE

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WP 2: BENCHMARKING

• How different monitoring methods are currently used

• Relevant policies in protection and safety-> Variation between countries

• Discussion with stakeholders on monitoring• Stakeholder experiences

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WP 3: MINING STRUCTURES AND

OPERATION PROCESSES

• Monitoring of movement

• Remote sensing compared to in situ measurements (e.g.

laboratory tests)

• Paste modelling

• Freeze/thaw-cycle

• Dam safety surveillance by movement (concentrating on

Swedish sites)

• Now ongoing masters’ thesis by Anssi Rauhala

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WP 4: ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AND SAFETY

• Environmental monitoring• Planned, open and closed mines

• Environmental screening for optimal locations for tailing dams,

treatment wetlands and other structures

• Leakages in closed and open mines?

• Vegetation variation?

• How thermal or hyperspectral imagery can be used?

• Defining algorithms to derive the environmental information

from satellite and UAV data

• Standard methods?

SCHEDULE

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WP1 Project management

Task 1.1 Project administration and coordination

Task 1.2 Websites and information

Task 1.3 Budgeting and cost controlling

WP2 Benchmarking of monitoring observation

Task 2.1 Analysis of relevant policies and planning methodsTask 2.2 Monitoring structures and mining area

WP3 Mining structure and operation processes

Task 3.1 Remote sensing of mine elevation data

Task 3.2 Modelling tailing dam in technique operations

Task 3.3 Dam safety surveillance

WP4 Environmental protection and safety issues

Task 4.1

Use of remote sensing methods in recognizing

leakages and groundwater seepage at mining sites

Task 4.2

Developing the processing methods and

algorithms to derive the necessary environmental

information from satellite and airborne remote

Task 4.3 Environmental protection and safety issues

WP5 Exploitation plan

Task 5.1 Preparation for EU Horizon 2020 projects.

Task 5.2

Integrated report on policy needs, environmental

protection and future research innovation

WP6 Dissemination and networking

Task 6.1 Organization of project meetings and workshops

Task 6.2 Stakeholder involvement

Final reports

In Norway

In Sweden

Workshops and meetings

In Finland

Work Packages 20182016 20172015Schedule

REMOTE SENSING & CASE LAIVAKANGAS

(MASTER’S THESIS IN WATER & GEO ENGINEERING)

Anssi Rauhala (MSc. Planetary Science)

University of Oulu

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1) REMOTE SENSING OF MINE ENVIRONMENTS

•Analysis of literature.

•How remote sensing can be used in

monitoring mine environments?

•What are the different available techniques,

applications, etc.?

•What are the costs and limitations of

different techniques?

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2) CASE LAIVAKANGAS

•Gold mine ~70 km southeast from Oulu

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© National Land Survey of Finland, 2015

2) CASE LAIVAKANGAS

•Utilizes paste technique in tailings process

•Currently no production

-> Offers good opportunity to monitor

”undisturbed” deposited tailings paste.

•Target of RESEM summer 2015 campaign:

•UAV mosaic and digital elevation model of

Laivakangas tailings paste disposal area

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LAIVAKANGAS MEASUREMENTS

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LAIVAKANGAS MEASUREMENTS

•Temperature sensor-unit: sensors

every ~20 cm to a depth of ~2 m

--> Allows to monitor depth of soil

freeze in situ

•Laboratory measurements of

tailings samples: from depths of

~25, 50, 100, 200 cm

--> Frost heave, rheology, …

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LAIVAKANGAS MEASUREMENTS

•RESEM summer 2016 campaign: New UAV

digital elevation model

--> E.g., paste elevation change, movement

•Combine RS-measurements with laboratory

measurements

-->Characterize paste behaviour in cold

climate (e.g., frost effects), and

produce data for modelling purposes

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SENTINEL 1 & SENTINEL 2

•Sentinel 1 (radar, launch: 04/2014):

•Resolution typically ~20 m

•Data of Laivakangas available from 2015 ->

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Laivakangas 10.09.2015 Laivakangas 20.01.2016R: VV

G: VH

B: |VV|/|VH|

SENTINEL 1 & SENTINEL 2

•Sentinel 1 may offer possibility of utilizing

differential interferometry (DInSAR)

Amount of ground movement (revisit: 12 days)

• Low spatial, but very high vertical resolution

•Uncertain with tailings paste due to:

• Lack of elemental scatterers (too smooth)?

•Effect of moisture variation?

• Possible to compare with weather data

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SENTINEL 1 & SENTINEL 2

•Sentinel 2 (multispectral, launch: 06/2015):

•Resolution 10–60 m, 13 spectral bands

•First images to contain Laivakangas scheduled

for 3.2.2016, 6.2.2016, 9.2.2016., …

•Sentinel 1 & 2 data is freely available

•Any results are a nice bonus, but …

•… also helps to constrain usefulness of lower

resolution satellite data without obtaining

commercial data

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MY VIEW OF RESEM RATIONALE

•How and when remote sensing can be used

to supplement and enhance ”traditional”

in-/ex-situ measurements, and vice versa?

•Not only in monitoring of mine environments,

but also planning and research

•What are the added benefits or limitations?

•When is it cost effective to use remote

sensing?

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SUMMER 2016

• New measurements in Laivakangas

• Thermal imaging/IR?

• Closed/reopened mine surveillance• Groundwater flow?

• Swedish sites

WORKSHOP

Discussion on three topics in three different tables:

1. Ideas for the project: Good things? Suggestions? New ideas and

potential utilization targets?

2. Pitfalls of the project: Possible risks? Uncertainties? Your

experiences? Improvements?

3. Interreg Nord MIN-NORTH project: project presentation and

discussion. Collaboration?

Concept: division into three groups. Each group goes through each

table. One group has approximately 20 minutes in each table and then

the tables are changed. In each table chair person leads discussion with

an assistant.

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