Mapping global mining activities using open Earth observation data .erc-logo-left[] .fineprint-logo-left[] .wu-logo-right[]

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.title[
# Mapping global mining activities using <br>open Earth observation data .erc-logo-left[] .fineprint-logo-left[] .wu-logo-right[]
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.subtitle[
## <b></b>
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.author[
### Dr Victor Maus<br>.font80[Institute for Ecological Economics<br>Vienna University of Economics and Business]<br>.font80[<a href="mailto:victor.maus@wu.ac.at" class="email">victor.maus@wu.ac.at</a>]<br>.font80[<a href='https://vwmaus.github.io'>vwmaus.github.io</a>]
]
.date[
### .right[.font80[UNODC and UNEP, Apr 19, 2023, Vienna].footnote-right[Except where otherwise noted, content on these slides is licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0'>CC BY-SA 4.0 license</a>]]
]

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background-image: url(./../img/kayapo_gold_mining-Ibama-via-Wikimedia-CC-BY-SA-2-0.jpg)

.cc-bottom-right.font-light[Illegal gold mine in the Kayapo indigenous territory in Brazil by IBAMA via Wikimedia Commons
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>]
.font-dark.center.font250.font-light[**Currently, there is not enough geospatial information available to conduct comprehensive sustainability assessments for mining**]

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- A link to the slides will be provided at the end of the talk, so you don't need to bother taking notes

- Companies and governments do not disclose sufficient geospatial information

- This hinders comprehensive sustainability and risk assessments of the sectors activities, particularly at global scale

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background-image: url(https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/applications/observing_the_earth/copernicus/sentinel-2/19729272-10-eng-GB/Sentinel-2_pillars.jpg)
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.cc-bottom-left.font-light[Image: © <a href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-2">European Space Agency (ESA)</a>]

.center.font150.font-light[**Earth observation is the only viable data source for monitoring mining areas**]

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- Earth observation satellites are the only viable data source to close this information gap

- And the open data policy by several space agencies makes it easy to access and use satellite images for a range of applications, including mapping mines

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.center.font180[**With little training, humans can identify mining in satellite images**]

.pull-left.center[
.bg-washed-blue.b--dark-blue.ba.bw0.br3.shadow-5.mh1.mt0.font100[
**Open cut of the Carajás Iron Mine, Brazil**
]
<div class="copyright-container">
  <img src="./../img/carajas-mine-satellite.png" height="450"/>
  <div class="copyright-bottom-left2 font-light">Figure: <a href="https://www.fineprint.global/viewer">FINEPRINT Viewer</a></div>
</div>
]

.pull-right.center[
.bg-washed-blue.b--dark-blue.ba.bw0.br3.shadow-5.mh1.mt0.font100[
**Gold mining in Kayapo indigenous territory, Brazil**
]
<div class="copyright-container">
  <img src="./../img/mining-Kayapo-indigenous-territory-brazil.png" height="450"/>
  <div class="copyright-bottom-left2 font-light">Figure: <a href="https://www.fineprint.global/viewer">FINEPRINT Viewer</a></div>
</div>
]

???

- My research team has been exploring this rich open satellite data archives to map mines

- As currently there are no automated algorithms that can map mines globally

- We have mapped small-scale and industrial mines via visual interpretation of satellite images

- Automated global scale mapping mines is an open scientific challenge

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background-image: url(./../img/mine-app-gui.png)
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.footnote-right[.font-light[[User interface of the open-source mine mapping tool](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3580739)]]

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- We then develop a tool to support systematic visual interpretation of mining regions

- The tool brings several layers together to support experts interpretation of images

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background-image: url(./../img/mine-app-data-sources.png)
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.footnote-right[.font-light[[User interface of the open-source mine mapping tool](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3580739)]]

???

- We then develop a tool to support systematic visual interpretation of mining regions

- The tool brings several layers together to support experts interpretation of images

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background-image: url(./../img/global-mining-map.png)

.footnote-right[.font-light[Figure: [FINEPRINT Viewer www.fineprint.global/viewer](https://www.fineprint.global/viewer)]]]
.footnote-left[[Maus et al. (2020, 2022)](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01547-4)]

.left-column.pl1.mt0.font120.left.bottom.font-light[
<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
**45,000 Polygons**

**100,000 km²**

]

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- As a result we constructed a database including about 45,000 polygons covering about 100,000 km² of mines globally

- In this map you can see the spatial distribution of the polygons

- This database untapped a range of global land use and ecological assessments

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.center.font120[**The database includes industrial mining as well as small-scale artisanal mining globally**]

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- In this slide we see the examples from South America, in Chile and Brazil

- And it also may include illegal mining

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.center.font180[**Mining land use distribution across countries**]

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- The polygons are distributed across 145 countries

- And the area is unevenly distributed, 6 countries account for more than 50% of the mapped mining area

- This includes, Russia, China, Australia, United States, Indonesia, and Brazil

- It is important to note that, the database covers LSM and SAM globally

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.center.font180[**Mining in indigenous land in Brazil**]

.pull-left.center[
<div class="copyright-container">
  <img src="./../img/illegal-mining-munduruku.png" height="450"/>
  <div class="copyright-bottom-left font-dark">Map by Matthias Humer</div>
</div>
.bg-washed-blue.b--dark-blue.ba.bw0.br3.shadow-5.mh1.mt0.font100[
**Munduruku indigenous territory, Brazil**
]
]

.pull-right.center[
<div class="copyright-container">
  <img src="./../img/illegal-mining-kayapo.png" height="450"/>
  <div class="copyright-bottom-left font-dark">Map by Matthias Humer</div>
</div>
.bg-washed-blue.b--dark-blue.ba.bw0.br3.shadow-5.mh1.mt0.font100[
**Kayapó indigenous territory, Brazil**
]
]

???

- As we can see the mining areas in red in this slide are within protected areas, outside the consecrations in orange

- Although, we have not check this areas with Brazilian authorities, they are likely illegal activities

- My team is currently conducting a more comprehensive study to check how much mining is outside concession

- But this is still challenging for several countries as we do not always have open information about concessions

- Our database has also served as bassis for other studies, for example

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.center.font180[**Mining-related forest loss by country accumulated from 2001 to 2019**]

<div class="copyright-container">
  <img src="./../img/top-10-contry-mrd.png" height="500"/>
  <div class="copyright-bottom-left font-dark"><a href=https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Wald/WWF-Studie-Extracted-Forests.pdf>Kramer et al., 2023</a></div>
</div>

???

- Based on this database, we have published last week a new study together with WWF Germany

- Where we have quantified the mining related deforestation globally

- Some main highlights of this study are shown in this map

- Showing the countries contribution to mining related deforestation from 2001 to 2019

- In this study we have also linked deforestation to individual commodities

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.center.font180[**Mining-related forest loss by commodity, 2001-2019**]

<div class="copyright-container">
  <img src="./../img/mineral-commodity-deforestation-wwf.png" height="500"/>
  <div class="copyright-bottom-left font-dark"><a href=https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Wald/WWF-Studie-Extracted-Forests.pdf>Kramer et al., 2023</a></div>
</div>

???

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.font.dark.font120[**Towards monitoring legal/illegal mining**<br><br><br><br>]

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- Sentinel-2 images provide sufficient spatial and temporal resolution for near real time monitoring, but supporting information with higher spatial resolution is critical

- Current automated approaches work well for homogeneous regions and mining types but not for large scales applications

- Cloud cover in tropical regions can substantially delay the detection

- Local expert knowledge is critical

- Open Earth observation images (Sentinel-2) provide sufficient spatial and temporal resolution for near real time monitoring

- However, higher spatial resolution is very useful, e.g. openly available for the tropics from Norway's International Climate and Forests Initiative Satellite Data Program

- How can we transition from snapshots of mining land use to monitoring mining activities over time?

- Our global mining database was very useful to calculate some ecological footprints

- However, can only provide snapshots of land use, as it is very time-consuming

- Monitoring mining activities requires automation

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.erc-logo-left[] .fineprint-logo-left[] .wu-logo-right[]

<br><br><br><br><br>
.pull-left.left[
Dr Victor Maus<br>.font100[Institute for Ecological Economics<br>Vienna University of Economics and Business]<br>.font100[victor.maus@wu.ac.at]<br>.font100[<a href='https://vwmaus.github.io'>vwmaus.github.io</a>]<br>
<img src="./../img/qrcode_www.victor-maus.com.png" height="190"/>
]

.right[
  .font80[UNODC and UNEP, Apr 19, 2023, Vienna]<br>
  .font150[Thank you!]
]