Mining is of major economic, environmental and societal consequence, yet knowledge and understanding of its global footprint is still limited. Here, we produce a global mining land use dataset via remote sensing analysis of high-resolution, publicly available satellite imagery. The dataset comprises 74,548 polygons, covering ~66,000 km² of features like waste rock dumps, pits, water ponds, tailings dams, heap leach pads and processing/milling infrastructure. Our polygons finely contour the edges of mine features and do not include the space between them. This distinguishes our dataset from others that employ broader definitions of mining lands. Hence, despite our database being the largest to date by number of polygons, comparisons show relatively lower global land use. Our database is made freely available to support future studies of global mining impacts. A series of spatial analyses are also presented that highlight global mine distribution patterns and broader environmental risks.

采矿业具有重大的经济、环境和社会影响，但对其全球足迹的了解和理解仍然有限。在这里，我们通过对高分辨率、公开可用的卫星图像进行遥感分析，生成了一个全球采矿土地利用数据集。该数据集包含 74,548 个多边形，覆盖约 66,000 公里²废石场、矿坑、水池、尾矿坝、堆浸垫和加工/研磨基础设施等特征。我们的多边形精细勾勒出地雷特征的边缘，不包括它们之间的空间。这将我们的数据集与其他使用更广泛的矿区定义的数据集区分开来。因此，尽管我们的数据库是迄今为止多边形数量最多的数据库，但比较显示全球土地使用率相对较低。我们的数据库免费提供，以支持未来对全球采矿影响的研究。还介绍了一系列空间分析，突出了全球矿产分布模式和更广泛的环境风险。