The Global Tailings Monitoring Service (GTMS) is designed to enable more comprehensive and consistent monitoring of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) at mines.
The Global Tailings Monitoring Service (GTMS) is designed to enable more comprehensive and consistent monitoring of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) at mines.
‘GTMS will deliver actionable intelligence to mine operators and engineers responsible for the safety of multiple or single assets, helping them to detect early warning precursor signals to prevent failures that can have significant economic, environmental, social and reputational consequences,’ said Viridien.
‘Developed with ESA Space Solutions, GTMS offers a more cost-effective TSF monitoring solution than more bespoke approaches,’ said Viridien. ‘With the option of being fully scalable across a portfolio of sites, it integrates a wide-ranging suite of Earth Observation and environmental data sets on a single online platform to address numerous potential failure mechanisms. This increases efficiency, streamlining data collation, comparison and analysis to aid early identification of precursors to failure’.
Results are generated across entire portfolios using Viridien’s high-performance computing capacity. Results are delivered with every new satellite data acquisition, which is ‘a much higher frequency compared to approaches that provide updates monthly, quarterly or annually,’ said Viridien.
Peter Whiting, head of geoscience, Viridien, said the company deveoped the tool in consultation with mining companies: ‘The safety of mine site TSFs is a high priority for the mining industry. Through consultation with several multinational mining companies, GTMS will be a step-change service designed to minimise potential failure risks and advance ESG performance.’
