Mine Surveying

Measuring the mine from surface to stope. The measurement backbone of mining: coordinates and traverses, levelling, total stations and GNSS, underground surveying through shafts and drives, volume and stockpile calculations, and drones and laser scanning for modern mine mapping.

• Coordinates & Traversing — Every point in a mine has coordinates (Easting, Northing, Elevation/RL). Learn mine grids and datums, bearings and distances, latitudes and departures (ΔN, ΔE), the join (inverse) calculation, traverses, misclosure and precision, and the Bowditch adjustment.
• Leveling — Levelling determines heights (reduced levels) of points. Learn datums and bench marks, the dumpy/auto level and staff, backsight/foresight/intermediate sight, height-of-instrument and rise-and-fall methods, arithmetic checks, misclosure, curvature and refraction, and contouring.
• Total Station — A total station combines an electronic theodolite with an EDM and a computer. Learn how EDM works, slope-to-horizontal reduction, coordinate computation, atmospheric and prism corrections, stake-out, resection, robotic and reflectorless operation, and data workflows to CAD.
• GPS/GNSS — Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, NavIC) give positions anywhere on Earth. Learn how ranging and trilateration work, error sources, DOP, differential and RTK positioning, static surveys, datums, ellipsoidal vs orthometric heights and the geoid.
• Underground Surveying — Surveying below ground brings special challenges: transferring coordinates and orientation down shafts, gyro-theodolites, forced-centring traverses, setting drive centrelines and grades, slope reductions, breakthrough accuracy and cavity monitoring.
• Volumes & Stockpiles — Surveyors measure how much has been mined and stockpiled. Learn end-area and prismoidal (Simpson) formulas, stockpile geometry with angle of repose, surface-to-surface (DTM) volumes, bank vs loose volumes and swell, and month-end production reconciliation.
• Drones & Laser Scanning — Modern mine surveying uses drones (UAVs), photogrammetry, LiDAR and mobile laser scanning. Learn ground sample distance (GSD), image footprint and overlap, flight planning, ground control points (GCPs) and RTK/PPK, point clouds and accuracy checks, and applications in pits, stockpiles and underground.