Global High-Resolution Mining Footprints

Mining is of major economic, environmental and societal consequence, yet knowledge and understanding of its global footprint is still limited. The global mining footprint database is a global mining land use dataset via remote sensing analysis of high-resolution, publicly available satellite imagery. The dataset comprises 74,548 polygons, covering ~66,000 km2 of features like waste rock dumps, pits, water ponds, tailings dams, heap leach pads and processing/milling infrastructure. The polygons finely contour the edges of mine features and do not include the space between them, thereby differentiating it to partcular mining categories rather than broader definition of mining lands