Remote Sensing for Gold Miners
- Leend
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
A Practical 13-Part Blog Series
Gold exploration has not changed because gold has changed. It has changed because how we understand the land has changed.
What once required months of manual mapping, aerial photo interpretation, and specialist equipment can now be done quickly and cheaply using satellite imagery, digital elevation models (DEMs), and publicly available geological maps.
This blog series explains how gold miners actually use remote sensing in the real world — not theory, not marketing claims, and not software manuals.
Why this "Remote Sensing for Gold Miners" series exists
Many miners already use tools like Google Earth. Fewer use DEMs properly. Even fewer combine imagery, topography, and geology into a clear decision-making process.
As a result:
too much ground gets chased,
obvious geological filters are skipped,
and time is spent where gold could exist, not where it should exist.
This series exists to fix that.
It is written for:
artisanal and small-scale gold miners,
prospectors,
junior explorers,
and anyone who wants to work smarter before working harder.
Plain language. Practical logic. No promises of “finding gold from a computer”.
What this series is — and what it is not
What it is
A practical guide to using satellite data and maps for gold
Focused on decision-making, not software tricks
Relevant to both hard-rock and alluvial gold
Especially useful in data-rich regions such as Indonesia
What it is not
A replacement for fieldwork
A geology textbook
A technical image-processing manual
A shortcut to guaranteed gold
Remote sensing is a front-end tool. This series shows how to use it properly — and where its limits are.
Publishing schedule
This is a 13-part series.
A new article will be published every Monday at 6:00.
Each post builds on the previous one, but each can also be read on its own.
The complete 13-part series roadmap
Post 1
Remote Sensing for Gold Miners – Why Looking from Above Works. What remote sensing really is, and why perspective matters more than detail.
Post 2
The Big Picture First – Regional Thinking Every Gold Miner Needs. Why most miners zoom in too early, and how regional context saves time.
Post 3
Passive and Active Remote Sensing – What the Difference Means for Gold. Understanding sensing types without technical jargon.
Post 4
Satellite Imagery for Gold Exploration – What It Can and Cannot Show. What satellites are good at, what they miss, and how to use them realistically.
Post 5
How Digital Images Work (Without the Technical Pain). Pixels, resolution, and why scale matters more than sharpness.
Post 6
Three Image Techniques That Matter for Gold. Contrast, lineaments, and ratios — kept practical.
Post 7
Free and Public Tools Every Gold Miner Should Use. What tools are actually worth your time.
Post 8
Public Maps and Geoportals for Gold Miners in Indonesia. Using Indonesian geology, terrain, and mining map portals correctly.
Post 9
Using Topography and DEMs to Find Alluvial Gold. What geologists once did manually — now done instantly.
Post 10
Reading the Landscape Like a Geologist (Without Being One). Learning to see geology in terrain, drainage, and texture.
Post 11
From Satellite Image to Gold Target – A Practical Workflow. Turning maps into ranked, testable targets.
Post 12
Common Remote Sensing Mistakes That Cost Gold Miners Time and Money. False positives, bad assumptions, and how to avoid them.
Post 13 (Final)
Using Remote Sensing Wisely – What It Can and Cannot Do for Gold Miners. Putting everything in context and using remote sensing responsibly.
How to get the most value from this series
To benefit fully:
read the posts in order if you’re new,
apply ideas to a real area as you go,
resist the urge to jump straight to high-resolution imagery,
and always verify interpretations on the ground.
Remote sensing rewards discipline, not enthusiasm.
Before we begin
Gold is still found on the ground.Remote sensing does not change that.
What it changes is how intelligently you choose where to look.
The first article in the series will be published next Monday at 6:00.
If you work with gold — especially in structurally complex or alluvial environments — this series will help you think more clearly, waste less effort, and explore with confidence.
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