Advancing Sustainable Mining Practices: Policy Implications and Environmental Monitoring Strategies

This article systematically reviews remote sensing technologies for environmental monitoring in mining areas from 2012 to 2022, addressing three objectives: identifying key applications and advances, quantifying trends in monitoring efficiency and spatial–temporal coverage, and evaluating future integration prospects for sustainable mining. A structured literature review synthesized findings from peer‐reviewed studies comparing traditional field‐based and remote sensing approaches. Results demonstrate that remote sensing—including UAV platforms and high‐resolution satellite imagery—enables spatial coverage from 100 m2 to thousands of square kilometers, with positional accuracy of 2–20 cm for UAVs and millimeter‐level deformation detection using InSAR. These performance figures are method‐and site‐dependent (e.g., sensor class, flight altitude, surface roughness) and should be interpreted as typical rather than universal. Satellite archives such as Landsat and Sentinel provide global coverage with 5–16 day revisit intervals, though effective frequency varies with cloudiness, terrain shadow, and sensor tasking, supporting more frequent and automated assessments than traditional monthly or yearly field campaigns. Ecological indicators such as fractional vegetation cover (FVC) facilitate straightforward, large‐scale monitoring of mining‐induced degradation and restoration. However, barriers including limited access to high‐resolution commercial satellite data and uneven technical capacity in developing regions persist. The review highlights the growing trend of multi‐source data integration and the critical role of international cooperation in advancing open, equitable, and effective environmental monitoring systems for sustainable mining management. These findings offer timely reference for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to enhance environmental monitoring technologies and governance in the mining sector.