Hyperspectral monitoring and analysis of the Bakuta tungsten mine project in Kazakhstan

The Boguty tungsten mine, constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, is located in the Ulikan-Bakuta Mountains of Almaty Region, Kazakhstan, 180 kilometers from Almaty and 150 kilometers from the Khorgos border crossing in Xinjiang. It is one of China's top ten tungsten mines outside of China and a world-class super-large open-pit tungsten mine with an annual output of approximately 5 million tons of tungsten ore.

With the approval of both governments, the Bakuta tungsten mine project has been included as one of the 56 key China-Kazakhstan capacity building projects, a crucial step in aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with Kazakhstan's "Bright Path" new economic policy. The investment project is insured by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation and has been included in the outcome list of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Project Introduction

Currently, the Bakuta tungsten mine has proven ore reserves of 126.0295 million tons, with an average tungsten trioxide grade of 0.226% and tungsten trioxide reserves of 284,900 tons, ranking fifth in the world.

The Bakuta tungsten mine project was launched in 2021. Located in the birthplace of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese civil engineers are working diligently to advance the project's construction. On November 18, 2022, the first steel column of the main plant building was successfully erected. During construction, some ore stripping work is already underway, and full production is expected to commence this year.

With the support of the Belt and Road International Science Organizations Alliance Research Project, on December 24, 2023, the CAS Xiguang Aerospace team used the XIGUANG-003 hyperspectral satellite to take pictures of the target area in order to visualize and analyze the construction progress. 

Analysis process

△Figure 1. Google satellite imagery base map

Figure 2. Original hyperspectral image of XIGUANG-003 (true color composite)

Comparing Figure 1 and Figure 2, the Google satellite base image shows that the project was still in the early stages of construction when it was taken, so there were no obvious facilities and buildings, only some basic structures. However, when the image was taken in December 2023, roads, ore processing areas, factories, etc. had already been completed.

△Figure 3 XIGUANG-003 panchromatic image

△Figure 4 Hyperspectral and panchromatic fused image of XIGUANG-003

Hyperspectral images have low spatial resolution, so they need to be fused with panchromatic images, as shown in Figure 4. After fusion, the resolution is significantly improved, and the factory location can be located more accurately.

△Figure 5. Mountain shadow map of the project area

△Figure 6. 3D topographical schematic diagram of the project area

After overlaying DEM data (Figure 5) and the fused hyperspectral image (Figure 4), the slope aspect and slope information of the project site can be intuitively obtained in the form of three-dimensional terrain, providing a more intuitive understanding of the overall progress of the project.

△Figure 7 Target point of spectral curve

△Figure 8 Spectral curves of different land features in the project area

After analyzing the spectral curves of some ground features, it can be confirmed that the main structure and roof of the target factory building have been completed. Although the spectral curves of the roofs of different factory buildings are slightly different, they can still be identified as the same material, and the material is significantly different from other ground features. 

By combining the target's spectral information and enhanced spatial information with topographic data such as ground elevation, it is possible to obtain an overall overview and boundary of the project area while conducting detailed investigations and classifications of individual buildings. This helps project managers located thousands of miles away to supervise and manage projects in an objective and highly visualized manner.