Estimating stockpile volume software#

The study case was performed as a part of a master thesis. On the other hand, UAV photogrammetry presents a fast, accurate method for mapping large areas and calculating stockpiles volumes. On one hand, extremely precise measurements could be performed by GNSS technologies, however, it could be really time consuming. Often legislations concerning mine engineering state that the volumetric calculations are to present ☓% accuracy of the whole amount. In other words, this means getting an objective evaluation of the processes, using up-to-date technologies and reliable accuracy of the results. Fast and precise acquisition of measurements regarding the process taking place in a quarry is the key to an effective and stable maintenance. For instance, the management of an open pit quarry requires gaining, processing and storing a large amount of information which is constantly changing with time. Having considered how dynamic our world is, new techniques and methods should be presented in numerous fields. Secondly, the area of the whole quarry including the stockpile site was mapped by a UAV flight. Firstly, a stockpile was measured by GNSS technologies and later other terrestrial GNSS measurements for modelling the berms of the quarry were taken. The two common ways to calculate a volume are to use points already stored in a working job or to create a volume by measuring points in real time when on. For this purpose, an appropriate open pit quarry has been chosen. For example, flatter stockpiles will benefit more from a high GSD than taller stockpiles.The following paper aims to test and evaluate the accuracy of UAV data for volumetric measurements to the conventional GNSS techniques. Therefore, this study applied the UAV technology in an open pit to estimate stockpile volumes from a Mine. The degree of uncertainty between the actual stockpile volume and. UAV technology for data collection is less labour intensive, safer and faster.

The actual stockpile volume from the mill operator is 265.4 m 3 and is used as a standard for the statistical comparative analysis. Vertically, they lower the uncertainty in Z values, which is proportional to the resolution. The drone yielded an estimated stockpile volume of 258.7 m 3 while the traditional tape method yielded an estimated stockpile volume of 262.0 m 3. The stockpile’s volume can then be calculated by summing up the volume of all triangular prisms. Horizontally, high-resolution photogrammetric results create more precise stockpile models, and thus better volume measurement accuracy than ones interpolated from certain measured points. A photogrammetric survey with a fine ground sampling distance (GSD, which indicates the actual distance each pixel represents) is able to better describe irregular stockpiles in detail. When it comes to stockpile volume measurements, stockpiles do not conform to a perfect shape.

Why use photogrammetry for stockpile volume measurements? High-resolution images give you more details of the mapped stockpiles These top mining companies claim that by applying the photogrammetry workflow with Pix4Dmapper, they can achieve measurement accuracies of around 2-5% for their stockpile volumes.

Estimating stockpile volume software#

Of the biggest 40 mining companies announced in PWC’s mining report, nearly half of them use Pix4Dmapper photogrammetry software for stockpile measurement and volume comparison as part of their mining workflow.Ĭalculating and managing stockpile inventory, that is, finding a solution for accurate volume measurement and easy inventory management, is one of the biggest challenges in the mining industry. Speed and accuracy: that's the reason why most of the largest mining companies use drones and photogrammetry software in their workflow.