Weekly pile volumes at named mines, smelters and ports.
An index of ore, concentrate and coal stocks from stereo satellite passes, delivered as a CSV you load next to price.
Spec
- Resolution
- VHR, 0.5 m or finer
- Cadence
- weekly, when a clear pass is available
- Platform
- stereo satellite passes
- Spectral
- RGB
- Delivery
- CSV series per site or commodity group
- Commodities
- ore, concentrate and coal
- Sites
- named mines, smelters and ports
- Access
- pilot
The files
- File
Pile volume by site
- Format
CSV- What's in it
- One row per site and week: the date of the pass, the site, the commodity and the measured pile volume. Delivered weekly, into the folder or feed you point us at. Weeks with no clear pass are marked as gaps and left empty, never estimated.
- File
Commodity group index
- Format
CSV- What's in it
- The same volumes rolled up across the sites you have named, by commodity group, as one running series. This is the line you chart against price and against the disclosure data you already hold.
- File
Laydown area breakout
- Format
CSV- What's in it
- Where a site has separate laydown areas that are distinct and measurable, each gets its own series, so a draw-down on one pad is not averaged away by a build on another.
- File
Site list and pass log
- Format
CSV- What's in it
- The sites and laydown areas in scope, and for each week the date of the pass behind the reading, so you can line a volume up with a shipment or a report date.
How it works
You name the sites and commodities
A list of mines, smelters and ports, and the commodity at each. Coordinates or a terminal name are enough to start. We confirm which laydown areas can be measured before any weekly series begins.
Stereo passes over each laydown area
In a week with a clear pass, each laydown area is imaged from two angles, which gives a surface height as well as a picture.
Pile geometry becomes a volume
The height of the pile above the ground around it, across its footprint, gives a volume for each pile in the area.
Volumes roll into the index
Site series and commodity-group series come back as CSV files, ready for a notebook, a spreadsheet or your time-series store.
Limits
These are the conditions under which a reading goes missing or means less. The delivery says which week and which site.
- Cloud
- A cloudy week at a site is a missing or late reading. Cadence is a target. It is not a promise of fifty-two readings a year for every site.
- Covered storage
- Piles in sheds, silos or under roof are invisible to optical imagery and cannot be measured this way. A site that keeps most of its stock indoors is a poor fit.
- Volume, not tonnes
- The series is cubic metres. Tonnes depend on bulk density, which varies with material, moisture and how a pile was built. That conversion is your assumption to make, not ours.
- Composition
- Volume and shape only. A mixed pile is one volume, and grade or material type is not visible.
- Resolution
- At VHR 0.5 m or finer, a large pile's outline resolves across many pixels. Small heaps a few metres across, and piles crowded against walls or other piles, do not give a clean edge.
- Height comes from stereo
- Pile height is worked out from two views. Steep faces, shadow and a pile whose base is hidden or ill-defined make the volume less certain, and no accuracy figure is published. Treat the series as a trend and check it against what you know of the site.
- Volume, not price
- This is a measurement of physical volume. It does not forecast price and does not replace production, shipment or terminal disclosure.
04 / The job today
Why this exists
Between two quarterly reports you know what a mine or smelter said it produced and what the shipping data says left the port. The stock in between is inferred. When the price moves, the desk has to say whether the pile at a named site is building or drawing down, and the only evidence is a number someone else published weeks ago. This series measures the pile itself each week, so you have a physical reading to set beside those figures.
Who it's for
- Commodity desk analysts and quants who follow ore, concentrate or coal stocks at specific mines, smelters and ports.
- Teams that already hold shipment, port and disclosure data and want a physical cross-check between reports.
- Anyone willing to run a pilot on a short list of named sites first.
Who it's not for
- Forecasts of price. This is a volume series.
- Stocks held under roof or in silos and tanks.
- Grade, moisture or composition of a pile.
- Intraday or real-time stock levels. The cadence is weekly and cloud sets the pace.
- Coverage of every mine and port. Sites are named and scoped one by one.
Questions from the desk
Does this predict price?
No. It measures the volume of the piles at the sites you name. What you make of a build or a draw-down is your call.
How accurate is a volume?
No accuracy figure is published. Use it as a trend series and check it against a site you know well during the pilot.
What about covered piles?
Optical imagery cannot see through a roof. Covered or enclosed storage is out of scope.
What happens in a cloudy week?
That week's reading for the site is missing or late and is marked as a gap. Nothing is interpolated.
Can it tell material types apart in a mixed pile?
No. It measures volume and geometry, not composition.
Can we get tonnes instead of cubic metres?
The series is volume. Convert it with the bulk density you use for the material and site, so the assumption stays yours and stays visible in your model.
Which sites can you cover?
That depends on the site: whether the piles sit in the open, whether laydown areas are separable and how often a clear pass exists. We check the sites you name before the pilot starts, and tell you which ones qualify.
Can we test it against our own view of a site?
Yes. Every reading carries the pass date, so you can compare it with a site visit, a survey or a terminal figure from the same week.
How is it priced?
A pilot is scoped and quoted on the sites and commodities you name and the length of the run. There is a written scope you can take to your data-buying process.