Every stockpile dispute comes down to the same question: what base were you measuring against? Drone LiDAR captures both the pile surface AND the ground beneath — turning monthly volume reconciliation from an argument into a deterministic measurement.
The pile surface is identical in every view — it's the base that changes. Toggle between an assumed flat plane, a prior LiDAR ground capture, or a designed pad to see how the volume answer moves. The spread between assumptions is the gap that ends up in front of finance and audit.
Spread between assumptions: 636 m³ · 2.7%. This gap is the difference between a defensible reconciliation and an argument that ends up in front of your auditor — and the single reason a surveyed base capture is worth the small extra cost on the first visit to a site.
Stockpile volumes look like a solved problem until you compare three different methods on the same pile and get three different numbers — usually a few percent apart, occasionally much more. The variation lives in the base assumption and the capture density.
A surveyor walking the perimeter and a few breaklines computes volume against an assumed flat or interpolated base. On a 10,000 m³ pile, a 200 mm error in base elevation can shift the volume by hundreds of cubic metres.
Texture-poor surfaces (uniform aggregate, fine ore, sand) defeat photogrammetric matching at the pile edge — exactly where the volume gradient is highest.
Inventory based on truck count × payload × bulk density compounds three estimation errors. Reconciliation against a measured pile is the only way to validate — and the only way to true-up the bulk-density assumption.
If you didn't capture the ground before the pile was placed, no future capture can recover it — the base is buried. Every subsequent reconciliation falls back to assumption.
Drone LiDAR captures the full pile surface at hundreds of points per square metre — and, captured before placement or alongside a ground baseline, also captures the bare-earth surface the pile will eventually sit on. Together they give a true volume: measured pile minus surveyed base.
Full surface capture against a surveyed base produces volumes that hold up to independent ground-survey audit. The number is defensible to finance, audit and your buyers.
50+ piles across a yard, ROM pad, finished-product stockpile area or aggregate compound captured in one drone session — typically 1–3 hours airtime.
Adding a ground-only capture before piles are placed (or in cleared corners) is minutes of additional airtime — and locks in defensible reconciliation for every future capture.
Same control, same flight plan, every month. Period-on-period material movement falls out as a deterministic comparison between two captured surfaces.
Volumes reported against flat-plane, prior-capture and design-pad bases simultaneously — so the spread is visible rather than hidden, and the audit story is unambiguous.
Comparing measured volume to truck-count records over several captures lets us back-calibrate true in-situ bulk density — a meaningful correction for inventory carrying value.
Outputs formatted for direct use in Maptek, Surpac, Micromine, Vulcan, AutoCAD, and the reconciliation spreadsheets technical services and finance teams already maintain.
Per-pile volume against each available base assumption, with surface area, perimeter, height stats and a signed summary block.
Full classified cloud — ground, pile surface, equipment, vegetation — ready for ingestion into mine planning and reconciliation software.
Per-pile DSM raster at 0.05 – 0.20 m grid resolution, ready for design comparison and downstream surface analysis.
Bare-earth pad surface captured pre-placement (or in cleared corners) as the defensible base reference for all future reconciliations.
Period-on-period material movement per pile and yard-wide, with heat-mapped change detection and a finance-ready summary.
True in-situ bulk density inferred from multi-period volume vs. throughput records — a small but meaningful inventory correction.
Identify piles, base options available, reporting period and control strategy. Add a quick ground-only base capture if no prior baseline exists.
Single-mobilisation drone flight covering every pile in the yard or compound. No production interruption — captures fly above operations.
Pile surface generation, base differencing against all available references, control validation. Independent QA before any number leaves the office.
Per-pile and yard-wide reconciliation against last capture, signed summary into technical services and finance within 48 hours.
We work with mining technical services, finance, aggregate producers and waste contractors across Australia. Tell us the yard, the reporting cycle and your base-survey history — we'll scope a capture programme that delivers defensible numbers from the first cycle.