Background The earth observation revolution

is here with constellations of small and large optical

imaging satellites promising to deliver valuable

information using photos taken from their low

earth orbits. Dozens of applications have emerged

from the stunning maps

on Google earth to land

use analysis and

agricultural production

monitoring.

Earth imaging from space

also has considerable potential for the mining

industry across a spectrum of applications from

effective land-monitoring practices to repeatable

cartographic analysis. The goal of this paper is to

envision a business intelligence product, tailored to

the mining industry, which delivers compelling

operational advantages and substantial financial

returns to assist in mining exploration and

extraction.

Challenge With the recent fall in market prices

for iron ore, copper, gold, silver, and coal, the

mining industry in the US faces significant

challenges. With a weak market and an outlook for

growth that is sluggish,

mining companies need

to pursue innovative,

cost effective techniques

to search for new

reserves and to monitor ongoing operations. In

addition, new regulations are producing more

sensitivity to environmental issues and therefore,

the efficient means of monitoring and reducing any

damaging effects associated with mining activity is

important.

Three key factors limit the usefulness of optical

space imaging in applications related to mining

activity: (1) clouds can persist for days limiting

timely optical space imaging, (2) space imagery at

useful levels of detail (i.e., 1-meter resolution or

better) can be very expensive, and (3) analyzing

hundreds (or thousands) of images represents a

considerable burden and cost.

Opportunity In the Summer of 2018 Trident

Space will launch the first affordable space-based

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging smallsat

with the ability to monitor nearly any location on

earth day or night and in all weather conditions

using radio waves instead of sunlight to obtain

images from space. We are also creating a new

generation of SAR image

processing and analytics

capabilities which can

automatically extract

information from both

individual SAR images and

periodic series of images.

Trident Space also seeks to create a tailored

business intelligence product in collaboration with

the mining industry which offers compelling

operational advantages and substantial financial

returns to the early adopters.

Vision The vision for this product would be for a

company to identify a particular area with mining

activity and the periodicity (e.g., weekly/bi-weekly)

that they desire to have the area monitored. Since

mining involves the movement of tons of earth and

rock on a daily basis, companies currently measure

the amount of mass moved using work intensive

methods. The measurement of surface

deformations, slope stability, waste and tailing

dump heights and changes in pit depth can be easily

determined by radar imaging. In addition, in areas

where vegetation cover is dense, a heavy canopy

will visually blanket the underlying formation,

limiting the use of optical sensors. Radar however,

can be used to discern the structural expression

reflected or mirrored in the tree top canopy, and

therefore, the structure may be clearly defined on

the radar imagery. A report would be generated

that provides the above information as detected by

changes in the imagery.

Please contact Nick Karangelen at

nick@tridsys.com to express your interest in this

new technology and in discussing its potential

application to the oil & natural gas industry.