LNG: 79.5500° W
Stockpile reconciliation is an accounting problem before it is a survey problem. If reported inventory drifts from actual inventory, month end numbers drift with it. This operation needed a repeatable monthly measurement it could defend.
DCMS flies RTK equipped drones with a LiDAR payload on a fixed monthly cadence, producing month over month elevation deltas for stockpile reconciliation, haul road condition and slope stability review.
Get a Quote for Your Project
Send us the building location, approximate square footage and required deliverables. We'll review the scope and get back to you.
The challenge
Repeatability. A volume number is only useful if this month's flight can be compared to last month's, which requires the same ground control and the same processing parameters every time.
Active site. Flights are planned around blasting, hauling and shift changes, with no interruption to production.
Vegetation and edges. Pit crests and reclaimed areas need LiDAR rather than photogrammetry alone to see ground under cover.
How we approached it
- 01Permanent ground control points installed once, then reoccupied on every flight.
- 02Fixed flight plans and identical processing parameters so deltas reflect the site, not the method.
- 03LiDAR plus imagery: LiDAR for ground surface under cover, imagery for visual inspection of haul roads and benches.
- 04Volumetric computation against a fixed base surface, with a per stockpile breakdown.
- 05Reporting within 48 hours of flight so numbers land inside the month end window.
What was delivered
- ▸Per stockpile volume report with change from previous survey
- ▸Digital terrain model and contours
- ▸Orthomosaic for haul road and bench inspection
- ▸Slope and crest monitoring comparisons
- ▸Reclamation and compliance documentation exports
Outcome
Monthly measurement replaced periodic estimates, which tightened reserve estimation and gave the finance team a defensible inventory figure.
Because every flight shares the same control, slope movement shows up as a measured change rather than as somebody's impression that a bench looks different.
Get a Quote for Your Project
Send us the building location, approximate square footage and required deliverables. We'll review the scope and get back to you.