Calculation of the extracted mines volume using DEM obtained from the Enivisat radar satellite images (Case study: Gol Gohar Sirjan Mine)

Excavation of minerals from open pit mines has always been of interest to mining managers. Hence, there are various methods to calculate the volume of extracted from open pit mines. Among these methods, radar interferometry is suggested with the ability to measure the high speed distance, which results in the preparation of a Digital Elevational Model with a high precision and low cost. Using the Digital Elevation Model obtained from radar interferometry that provides height of mine points from the sea level, it is possible to create elevation levels for the mine and finally, obtain the extracted volumes from open pit mines with respect to the differences height between two levels. In this research, 3 images of ENVISAT satellite with distance time of 70 days between the two images were used. Using StaMPS software, radar images and Digital Elevation Model were obtained at different times. Then, using the differences height points between two levels created for the mine, obtained from the Elevational Digital Model, the volume of extracted from mass No. 3 of Gol Ghoar Sirjan mine was calculated. In this research, using the Surfer software and Kriging interpolation method, differences height between two levels was calculated. In this way, the value volume of extracted at the distance of 140 in the mass No. 3 of the Gol Gohar Sirjan mine was 36,335.84 thousand cubic meters.