Synergistic Exploitation of Mineral and Geothermal Resources: Thermal Management and Multiphysical Geomechanics
A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2026 | Viewed by 317
Editor
Interests: synergistic exploitation of mineral and geothermal resources; rock mechanics; seepage mechanics; thermo-hydro-mechanical effects of rock mass
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As the global energy transition accelerates towards carbon neutrality, the deep underground is increasingly recognized not only as a source of critical minerals but also as a frontier for renewable geothermal energy and large-scale energy storage. The synergistic exploitation of mineral and geothermal resources offers a transformative paradigm: it converts deep mine heat from a conventional hazard into a valuable clean energy asset, while repurposing active workings, fault fracture zones, and abandoned mine shafts for underground thermal energy storage. This Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge advances in the co-extraction of deep resources, innovative thermal management systems, and the underlying geomechanics. By integrating mining engineering with geothermal technologies, we seek to provide sustainable, efficient, and safe solutions for the future of geo-energy development.
Key Research Areas:
- Innovative technologies and methodologies for the co-extraction of mineral and geothermal resources, including heat extraction from fault fracture zones and the mine floor rock strata during mining operations.
- Underground thermal management and energy storage systems, focusing on cross-seasonal thermal storage in abandoned mine roadways and the utilization of underground mine backfills for heat storage.
- Advanced and efficient hard rock fragmentation technologies under high-temperature and high-stress conditions, which are essential for deep geothermal reservoir stimulation and mine construction.
- Experimental and numerical investigations into the coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) effects in complex fractured rock masses, focusing on heat–mass transfer mechanisms and fluid seepage laws in rock fractures.
- Long-term stability, safety assessment, and surrounding rock control of underground structures and thermal reservoirs subjected to cyclic thermal loading and coupled multiphysical fields.
Dr. Qiang Li
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- co-extraction technologies
- underground thermal management
- seasonal thermal storage
- seasonal thermal storage
- heat and mass transfer
- THM effects
- rock fractures seepage
- cyclic thermal loading
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