Deep mine hydrogeology after closure: insights from the UK

Abstract

Although the UK has had an extremely rich history of deep mining, at the start of the 21st Century most mines are already abandoned and in various stages of flooding. Lessons of generic value have been obtained in the UK over the last decade, particularly in relation to the reactivation of mine subsidence processes during flooding of old workings, and the generation and release of polluted drainage. As researchers and practitioners have attempted to characterise and (in some cases) predictively model such processes, new analytical techniques have been developed. These range from simple 'rules of thumb' for pollution intensity prediction to sophisticated 3-D models of flow through networks of mine roadways routed through variably-saturated porous media.