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Comment by russdill | Hacker News Reader

... that's not how mining works. You don't get to just pick what comes out of the ground in a certain region.

I use satellites all the time to isolate specific mineral beds for mining. You can just-about 'just pick' what comes out of the ground when it comes to certain things. I look almost exclusively for agates. ASTER has spectral data exactly geared to that, LANDSAT 7 can get you semi-close if you know your terrain type. I'm 100% successful at every location.

I'm almost ready to start using them for Uranium before they get decom'd. I've trained myself on 7 years of this satellite data.

Satellites don't let you see under the ground.

I don't need to see under the ground, I just need to pinpoint specific IR spectral emission/absorption lines on the surface via satellite, and dig there.

Again, most ground is covered by vegetation, so you can't see through that either.

Yes, we can. We can't see through trees, but anything shorter than 10 feet in height we can get directly through, and even in cases of slightly taller vegetation we can correct by eliminating various absorption and emission lines in filters.

What we really can't see through is smoke and cloud.

Note: I maintain the Google Earth-based datasets for the USGS ASTER and LANDSAT7/8-based surficial mineralogy program. That includes actually going out to various locations and verifying signal readings. I've done this since 2016 as an unpaid volunteer (its pays me due to the minerals I'll find.)

...that's not how mining works. You don't get to just pick what comes out of the ground in a certain region.

I never suggested that. Geological surveys paint a decent picture of what minerals can be mined from where. This is a well known process. Mining companies can relocate equipment and employees, especially if they have federal funding. It is a win for the federal government, national security and a win for the mining companies and their current/former employees. I will email congress to suggest it.

Some time ago I suggested something similar for semi-conductor production and it was not received well on HN either. Today the federal government is putting billions into local chip production. How well that money is put to use remains to be seen, but it is happening.

Not even in Minecraft :-)

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