SRGIS Uses Remotely Sensed Data and ENVI to Target Locations for Mineral Excavation

Mining is big business in Chile. Copper provides 20 percent of Chile’s gross domestic product and accounts for 60 percent of the country’s exports.1 Along with copper, Chilean companies also mine for gold, silver, molybdenum, iron, and coal. Mining is labor intensive and expensive, so companies are always in search of more efficient methods for identifying and characterizing potential areas for further exploration.

Remote sensing is being used more frequently by mining companies to acquire information about a geographic area of interest prior to putting any resources on the ground. Advance image analysis tools like ENVI® extract information from remotely sensed data to provide details about the land surface structure, composition, and subsurface of an area. This information can help companies identify areas for mineral exploration prior to investing resources, thereby reducing fieldwork and minimizing environmental impact.

BENEFITS:

• Information extracted from remotely sensed data provides actionable information to target locations where minerals are present.
• Understanding terrain composition helps minimize initial financial and environmental exploration costs.
• ENVI spectral analysis tools provide important data that can help save resources, reduce extensive fieldwork, and ultimately achieve faster results.

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