Resources

Accuracy Studies

119 cm RMSE from ALOS PRISM

This study shows a topographic map, produced from PRISM satellite imagery with 3 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 1.19 m RMSE.

exploration exploration planning geological targeting logistical coordination preliminary economic assessment regional mapping topographic mapping

Accuracy Studies

12 cm RMSE with WorldView-2 (153 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-2 satellite imagery with 153 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 12 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-2

Accuracy Studies

13 cm RMSE from WorldView-3

This study shows a topographic survey, produced from WV-3 satellite imagery with 10 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 12 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-3

Accuracy Studies

13 cm RMSE with WorldView-3 (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-3 satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 13 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-3

Accuracy Studies

13 cm RMSE with WorldView-3 (153 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-3 satellite imagery with 153 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 13 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-3

Accuracy Studies

14 cm RMSE with WorldView-1 (153 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-1 satellite imagery with 153 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 14 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-1

Accuracy Studies

14 cm RMSE with WorldView-2 (21 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-2 satellite imagery with 21 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 14 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-2

Accuracy Studies

140 cm RMSE with SPOT-7 (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic map, produced from SPOT-7 satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 1.4 m RMSE.

exploration exploration planning geological targeting logistical coordination preliminary economic assessment regional mapping spot topographic mapping

Accuracy Studies

15 cm RMSE with WorldView-2 (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-2 satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 15 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-2

Accuracy Studies

15 cm RMSE with WorldView-3 (21 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-3 satellite imagery with 21 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 15 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-3

Accuracy Studies

19 cm RMSE with WorldView-1 (21 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-1 satellite imagery with 21 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 19 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-1

Accuracy Studies

19 cm RMSE with WorldView-3 (2 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-3 satellite imagery with 2 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 19 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-3

Accuracy Studies

20 cm RMSE with WorldView-2 (2 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-2 satellite imagery with 2 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 20 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-2

Accuracy Studies

21 cm RMSE with Kompsat-3A (14 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from Kompsat-3A satellite imagery with 14 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 21 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering kompsat-3a mine site survey mining operations planning study

Accuracy Studies

23 cm RMSE with WorldView-1 (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-1 satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 23 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-1

Accuracy Studies

23 cm RMSE with WorldView-1 (9 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from WV-1 satellite imagery with 9 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 23 cm RMSE.

accuracy development engineering mine site survey mining operations planning study worldview-1

Accuracy Studies

237 cm RMSE with ALOS PRISM (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic map, produced from PRISM satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 2.37 m RMSE.

exploration exploration planning geological targeting logistical coordination preliminary economic assessment regional mapping topographic mapping

Accuracy Studies

26 cm RMSE with Pleiades 1B (74 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from Pleiades 1B satellite imagery with 74 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 26 cm RMSE.

exploration surveying feasibility mine development pleiades pre-feasibility preliminary economic assessment

Accuracy Studies

28 cm RMSE with Pleiades 1A (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from Pleiades 1B satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 28 cm RMSE.

exploration surveying feasibility mine development pleiades pre-feasibility preliminary economic assessment

Accuracy Studies

48 cm RMSE with Kompsat-3A (11 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey, produced from Kompsat-3A satellite imagery with 11 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 48 cm RMSE.

exploration surveying feasibility kompsat mine development pre-feasibility preliminary economic assessment

Accuracy Studies

50 cm RMSE with Kompsat-3A (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey, produced from Kompsat-3A satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 50 cm RMSE.

exploration surveying feasibility kompsat mine development pre-feasibility preliminary economic assessment

Accuracy Studies

53 cm RMSE with Kompsat-3A (1 GCP)

This study shows a topographic survey produced from Kompsat-3A satellite imagery with 1 GCP to a vertical accuracy of 53 cm RMSE.

exploration surveying feasibility kompsat mine development pre-feasibility preliminary economic assessment

Alteration Reports & White Papers

AbraPlata Diablillos Case History

This report shows how PhotoSat uses a topographic survey produced from WorldView-2 satellite imagery to verify drill hole collar data.

accuracy development drill hole collar exploration mine site design mine site planning

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Cerro Casale & Caspiche Regional Hyperspectral Exploration Targeting (R-HET)

This case study details the results of PhotoSat’s R-HET solution over the Cerro Casale and Caspiche deposit region in the southern part of the Maricunga Volcanic Belt.

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Cerro Casale Alteration Report (ASTER)

This report shows how PhotoSat uses ASTER satellite imagery to detect alteration minerals at the Cerro Casale gold-copper deposit.

alteration mapping alteration mineral ASTER exploration exploration program geology multispectral regional exploration

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Cerro Casale Alteration Report (WV-3)

This report shows how PhotoSat uses WorldView-3 satellite imagery to detect alteration minerals at the Cerro Casale gold-copper deposit.

alteration mapping alteration mineral exploration exploration program geology multispectral property scale exploration regional exploration worldview-3

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Comparison of Topography for Dam Breach Analysis

This report compares the results of dam breach simulations conducted on SRTM vs. PhotoSat topographic surveys.

accuracy dam breach simulation development engineering flow modelling mine site survey mining operations planning resolution risk SRTM study worldview-3

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Filo del Sol Alteration Report (WV-3)

This report shows how PhotoSat uses WorldView-3 to detect alteration minerals at the Filo Del Sol deposit.

alteration mapping alteration mineral exploration exploration program geology multispectral property scale exploration regional exploration silver worldview-3

Technical Guides

Guidelines for Establishing Ground Control Targets

This document provides guidelines on how to construct ground targets and establish new ground control.

benchmark exploration GCP ground control ground targets guidelines instructions

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Mufulira Case Study

This case study shows how PhotoSat uses archive satellite imagery from multiple archives - Keyhole, Landsat, and WorldView - to reconstruct the survey history of a tailings facility.

compliance Corona Keyhole Landsat legacy asset management mine closure tailings management tailings monitoring WorldView

Conference Papers

PASTE 2019: Satellite bathymetry

Satellite bathymetry for the monitoring of supernatant water volumes within TSFs (Navarro, Aravena, Engels, Turner)

bathymetry mine waste monitoring PASTE tailings Tailpro TSF water volumes

Alteration Reports & White Papers

PhotoSat Launches New Regional Hyperspectral Exploration Targeting R-HET

R-HET leverages next-generation hyperspectral satellites and proprietary deep-learning algorithms to reveal more alteration minerals.

alteration mapping Cerro Casale Chile Mineral Exploration Deep-Learning Mapping Early-Stage Exploration Exploration Cost Reduction Geospatial Analysis Gold-Copper Deposits Hyperspectral Exploration Maricunga Volcanic Belt Mineral Exploration PhotoSat Porphyry-Epithermal Systems R-HET Regional Mineral Targeting Satellite Mineral Mapping

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Preliminary Survey Report for Jagersfontein

This case study shows how PhotoSat uses imagery from satellite archives to reconstruct the survey record of the Jagersfontein Tailings Dam.

archive compliance dam breach dam collapse failure jagersfontein Keyhole legacy asset management mine closure sentinel tailings management tailings monitoring

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Red Mountain Alteration Report (WV-3)

This report shows how PhotoSat uses WorldView-3 to detect alteration minerals at the Red Mountain gold deposit.

alteration mapping alteration mineral exploration exploration program geology gold golden triangle multispectral property scale exploration regional exploration worldview-3

Alteration Reports & White Papers

Submission to the Global Tailings Review

Mine site surveying in evaluating and mitigating risks of failure of mine tailings facilities (Mitchell, 2019)

dam collapse dam safety Fundao GISTM monitoring operations Suncor TSF

Conference Papers

Tailings 2022: Impact of Topographic Errors

Impact of Topographic Errors on Tailings Dam Breach Analysis (Turner, Ng, Ellithorpe)

dam breach dam breach analysis dam failure DBA flow model hydrology impact assessment risk assessment simulation tailings facilities TMW topography TSF

Conference Papers

TMW 2015: Satellite monitoring

Satellite monitoring of a large tailings storage facility (Schmidt, Malgesini, Turner, Reinson)

beach mine waste quality control remote sensing supertnatant pond tailings TMW TSF volumes

Conference Papers

TMW 2020: Creating TSF Histories

Creating TSF Histories Using Modern Commercial and Declassified Cold War Satellite Photos (Mitchell, Turner, Rivet)

dam breach dam failure data insights mine site surveying tailings facilities tailings management TMW TSF

Conference Papers

TMW 2020: Mine Tailings Surveying

Mine Tailings Surveying After the Brumadinho Dam Failure (Mitchell, Turner, Rivet)

dam breach dam failure data insights mine site surveying tailings facilities tailings management TMW TSF

Conference Papers

TMW 2022: Impact of Topographic Errors

Impact of Topographic Errors on Tailings Dam Breach Analysis (Turner, Ng, Ellithorpe)

dam breach dam breach analysis dam failure DBA flow model hydrology impact assessment risk assessment simulation tailings facilities TMW topography TSF

Blogs

Turning Satellite Imagery into Decision-Ready Insights

accuracy alteration mapping alteration mineral dam breach development engineering exploration mine site survey mining operations planning TSF worldview-3