Synspective, a Tokyo-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data and solutions provider, and Insight Terra, a London-based start-up providing a cloud based environmental and infrastructure risk management platform and solutions, have entered into a strategic partnership to deliver a new space-enabled data and monitoring solution for the mining industry.

The solution uses satellites and earth observation coupled with ground sensors to monitor mine tailings facilities.

Synspective and Insight Terra will work together to provide an integrated product offering combining Insight Terra’s cloud-based IoT Insight Platform with Synspective’s leading-edge analytical models of SAR data for the mining and other related industries. The integrated solution allows for the fusion of near real-time ground truth and earth observation data for proactive monitoring and alerting, the companies said.

Insight Terra’s Tailings Insight is currently deployed with a number of global mining companies for tailings dam monitoring.

Synspective develops and operates high-frequency, high-resolution SAR satellites called “StriX” to provide high-quality data sets and solution services. The company has already placed three satellites into targeted orbit while planning to establish the constellation of 30 satellites and an analytics platform by late 2020s.

”The integration of SAR data gathered by Synspective’s growing constellation of StriX series satellites will provide powerful earth observation capabilities to the Tailings Insight application,” they said. “This cutting-edge technology can be utilised to monitor ground movement and land deformation that are risk indicators for potential failures of tailings facilities, mine walls and water dams, among others.”

The companies will initially focus on the global mining industry, saying the Tailings Insight solution including new InSAR capabilities will be a leap forward for mining operators, investors and regulators seeking to monitor and mitigate potential mine-related disasters affecting people, communities and the environment.

The combined solution is, the companies say, aligned with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) promulgated in 2020 by the International Council on Mining and Metals, the United Nations Environmental Program and Principles for Responsible Investment. The GISTM requires mines with high-risk tailings facilities, both active and closed, to comply by August 2023.