Rio Tinto has linked up with Indian satellite start-up Pixxel to be used in exploration activities, Pixxel said.

Pixxel's imaging satellites have a capacity of 5 meter hyperspectral imaging, technology which is used to find objects and identify materials.

Rio Tinto also plans to use the technology to monitor active and closed mine sites and track ESG datapoints. Rio Tinto will also use the satellites to monitor the health of biodiversity and vegetation in and around mine sites.

Pixxel is slated to begin monitoring the sites in early 2022, the company said. Pixxel will launch a high-resolution spectral satellite that has the capacity to capture fifty times the amount of information other multispectral satellites can detect, the company said.

The benefit of the Pixxel satellites comes from its cost-saving measures and how it can shorten exploration timelines.

It will be the first time the satellite technology is used for mining operations, Pixxel chief executive Awais Ahmed said in the statement. Other customers are in the agriculture and oil and gas industries, he said.

"Our partnership with Rio Tinto entails one year of tech demonstrations and three years of data," Ahmed said. 

Pixxel was launched in 2019, and has also worked with the Indian Space Research Organisation, NASA, and Lockheed Martin.

Rio Tino has been focused on repairing its reputation in the ESG space after the uproar caused when the company blew up an Aboriginal cave system when developing an iron ore mine in Western Australia in May 2020.

The scandal led to the resignation of chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques, a parliamentary inquiry, and an order to rebuild the caves.

(Updates with Pixxel comment in sixth and seventh paragraphs)