Global dataset mapping land use and land cover across more than 80,000 mining areas

Land use/land cover class

Definition

Open pit

Surface excavations formed by vertically downward digging to extract geological or mineral materials, encompassing large terraced structures, quarries, and shallow cavities commonly associated with artisanal and small-scale mining.

Waste dumping site

A designated area for the temporary or permanent deposition of mining waste, typically managed through piling or burial. This includes wet mine waste stored in tailings storage facilities.

General disturbed land

Land areas have been visibly altered due to mining activity but cannot be confidently classified as open pits, waste dumps, vegetation, or built-up areas. Characterised by minimal elevation change, such areas may include cleared surfaces, haul roads, staging areas, or degraded zones in transition.

Water body

Water areas within mining extents include both temporary and permanent water bodies—such as supply ponds, wastewater treatment ponds, inundated open pits, tailings dams, and sedimentation basins—that are not masked in the TanDEM-X global Digital Elevation Model Change Maps (DCM) data.

Facility

Built-up areas including infrastructure associated with mining activities, such as buildings, roads, parking lots, and loading or processing facilities.

Bare soil

Exposed ground surfaces that may contain gravel, rocks, and occasionally sparse vegetation such as shrubs or grasses.

Vegetation

Tree cover within mining extents, primarily consisting of natural forests, but potentially including plantations and agricultural crops.