MINE SURVEYING

GPS SYSTEM AND ITS APPLICATION IN

MINING

PRESENTED BY :
SATYABRATA NAYAK
113MN0487
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite
navigation system that provides location and time information in all
weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an
unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites.

• Characteristics of GPS
• Free
• Precise
• Reliable
• All weather
• Anytime & anywhere
• Unlimited user capacity
How GPS Works ………
Uses measurements from 4+ satellites
Distance = travel time x speed of light
• SIGNAL TRAVELS
AT SPEED OF
LIGHT
Determining GPS Position**

• Suppose the distance from

Satellite A to our position is
11,000 miles
Satellite A • At this point we could be located
anywhere on the specified sphere
• Next, let us take another measurement
from a second satellite, Satellite B
Satellite B
• Now our position is narrowed down to the
intersection of theses two sphere
 Determining GPS Position

• Taking another measurement

from a 3rd satellite narrows our
Satellite A position down even further, to
the two points
• These points are located where
Satellite B
Satellite C the 3rd sphere cuts through the
the intersection of first two spheres

• So by ranging from 3 satellites we

can narrow our position to just
two points in space
How do we decide which one is our
true location?

• We could make a 4th measurement

from another satellite to determine
+
Satellite A
the true point
OR
• We can eliminate one of the two
+
+
Satellite B
Satellite C points that gives a ridiculous
answer
• The ridiculous point may be too
far from the earth

• However, GPS receivers use a 4th satellite to precisely

locate our position
• Advantages :
• The results from the measurement of a single line,usually referred to as a
baseline,will yield not only the distance between the stations at the end of the line
but their component parts in the X/Y/Z or Eastings/Northings/Height or
latitude/longitude/height directions.
• No line of sight is required.Unlike all other conventional surveying systems a line
of sight between the stations in the survey is not required.Each station,however
must have a clear view of the sky so that it can ‘see’ the relevant satellites.The
advantage here,apart from losing the requirement for intervisibility,is that control
no longer needs to be placed on high ground and can be in the same location as
the engineering works concerned.
• Most satellite surveying equipment is suitably waterproof and so
observations,with current systems,may be taken in any weather,by day or by
night.A thick fog won’t hamper the survey operation.
• Satellite surveying can be a one-person operation with significant
savings in time and labour.

• Operators do not need high levels of skill.

• Position may be fixed on land,at sea or in the air.

• Base lines of hundreds of kilometres may be observed thereby

removing the need for extensive geodetic networks of conventional
observations.

• Continuous measurement may be carried out resulting in greatly

improved deformation monitoring.
**GPS in mining:
• Satellite navigation has proven a significant increasing in productivity
and improved on-site safety in mining activities, e.g., mineral and
aggregate extraction with especial incidence in iron ore and coal
extraction and transport tasks.
• In open pit mining, accurate GPS and GNSS(Global Navigation
Satellite System) is useful for tasks such as machine guidance, grading,
dozing, drilling, collision avoidance, surveying, and fleet management.
• GPS can be used for positioning and/or surveying to 2cm accuracy
horizontally and 3cm vertically anywhere on the earth's surface. There
are 21 satellites currently in orbit with three spares.
• GPS can be used in open cut mining operations as long as the satellites can
be viewed in a direct line of sight. Tests undertaken at two mines, under
worst case conditions, show that GPS works well in most situations.

• Close to highwalls (within 3-4 metres) depending on the positioning of the

satellites at any given time, the GPS system dropped back to two
dimensional fixing, with only three satellites visible. GPS needs four
satellites for a three dimensional fix.

• There are many areas where GPS technology can improve the productivity
of coal mines. So the mining operations related with GPS are given below:
• Blasthole Drilling: GPS based blasthole drill systems provide drill
monitoring, control and guidance. The prime objective of GPS for drilling is to
navigate the drill rig over the designed collar position, eliminating the need for
manual survey.

• Shovels,Loaders,Dozers and Graders: The planned design of the mines,ore

blocks,pits and roads,is overlapped with the vehicle’s current position
providing the operator with the assistance required to mine the pit and ore
block to the intend mine design.The on-board display provides required
assistance by providing visual cues to where are located the ore blocks and
whether the current floor grade is below or above the design floor grade.
• Vehicle Tracking and Dispatch: The dump trucks’ positions obtained are
sent to the central control station,where it is carried the dumping scheduling
management.This application determines which material is loaded and sends
information and instructions to be followed by the truck drivers,in order to
guarantee that the assignments are followed and the materials are correctly
collected from the correct ore block and dumped in the correct dumping
location.
• GPS surveying: The advantage of using GPS for surveying in open pit
mining is that only a single surveyor is required,in opposition to the
conventional methods.
• Monitor Drivers and Vehicles: The sensors in the vehicle provide
monitoring information of equipment’s,like for instance air
preassures.These systems also provide sensors sent to a central control
station.This system will allow for rapid intervation in case of problems.
Application in Mining:
• Control of heavy machinery such as draglines,
• Control of bucket wheels and dozers,
• Drill guidance,
• Roads grading and maintenance,
• Fleet management systems for haul trucks and other vehicles tracking and
dispatch,
• Asset tracking, for instance, of lighting plant and mobile generators,
• Guidance and control for drill rigs and explosive trucks,
• Access and zone control for visiting vehicles,
• Detecting dangerous driver behavior and
• Collision avoidance applications.
• Surveying crews can be reduced
**Safety Applications:
• Surveying: GPS considerably speeds up the surveying process and reduces
the time surveyors are in the field often in vulnerable locations, eliminating
the process of establishing field control points.
• Truck Fleet Management: In a fleet management application, trucks can
be assigned to different loading machines in real time to improve overall
efficiency. A safety benefit is that the central control station always knows
the location of each truck.
• High Precision Machine Control: This systems increase efficiency,
eliminating the need to have people on the ground outside vehicles, where
they are most vulnerable to accidents, and the eliminate the need to deploy
pegs in the field. Also the recording of events can be useful is accident
situations, in order to obtain the causes that lead to the incident .
• Hazard Avoidance: These applications warn the operator of onsite
hazards such as machines operating next to each other where the
operators don't manage to see other due to terrain orography or voids
from older workings. These systems can also be set to automatically
broadcast an assistance required signal to the central control station if
the device is tilted beyond a preset angle.
• Collision Avoidance: This systems must be included in all mining
vehicles, which continuously report their position to the central
control station, where the data is analyses and vehicles can be
warned, if they are in collision course. This type of architecture
requires large bandwidth capabilities and is especially relevant in
environments where light and heavy vehicles work side by side.
*****THANK YOU*****