A Numerical Approach to Evaluate the Geothermal Potential of a Flooded Open-Pit Mine: Example from the Carey Canadian Mine (Canada)

Samuel Lacombe, Félix-Antoine Comeau () and Jasmin Raymond ()
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Samuel Lacombe: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)—Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Québec City, QC G1K 9A9, Canada
Félix-Antoine Comeau: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)—Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Québec City, QC G1K 9A9, Canada
Jasmin Raymond: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)—Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Québec City, QC G1K 9A9, Canada

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-28

Abstract: Abandoned mines represent an innovative and under-exploited resource to meet current energy challenges, particularly because of their geothermal potential. Flooded open-pits, such as those located in the Thetford Mines region (Eastern Canada), provide large, thermally stable water reservoirs, ideal for the use of geothermal cooling systems. Thermal short-circuiting that can impact the system performance affected by both free and forced convective heat transfer is hard to evaluate in these large water reservoirs subject to various heat sink and sources. Thus, this study’s objective was to evaluate the impact of natural heat transfer mechanisms on the performance of an open-loop geothermal system that could be installed in a flooded open-pit mine. Energy needs of an industrial plant using water from the flooded Carey Canadian mine were considered to develop a 3D numerical finite element model to evaluate the thermal impact associated with the operation of the system considering free and forced convection in the flooded open-pit, the natural flow of water into the pit, climatic variations at the surface and the terrestrial heat flux. The results indicate that the configuration of the proposed system meets the plant cooling needs over a period of 50 years and can provide a cooling power of approximately 2.3 MW. The simulations also demonstrated the importance of understanding the hydrological and hydrogeological systems impacting the performance of the geothermal operations expected in a flooded open-pit mine.

Keywords: thermal energy; finite element; simulation; modeling; cooling; open-loop; thermal short-circuiting; surface water; groundwater; mine water (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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