Feasibility analysis of co-mining of mineral and geothermal resources in the Jiaodong Peninsula

Geothermal resources are renewable new energy sources. They have the characteristics of large reserves, wide distribution, good stability, and recyclability and are clean and environmentally friendly. Using geothermal energy represents a new direction for China’s sustainable development through achieving green, clean, low-carbon, and sustainable energy. After more than forty years of development, China’s geothermal industry, including power generation and heating, has made remarkable achievements and played an essential role in helping defend the blue sky and achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Metal mines, especially those with large mining depths, often contain plenty of geothermal resources. These deep mines often have a large amount of high-temperature rock mass or geothermal water. These resources have great mining and utilization values. However, during the mining process of mineral resources, especially in the process of deep development of underground mines, the mine temperature is too high due to factors such as geothermal gradients. The high temperature has become an important factor restricting mine production. To maintain daily production, mines often adopt enhanced ventilation or artificial cooling. How to turn geothermal energy into a usable resource in the process of mine development and achieve a win-win situation in resource development and utilization is a difficult problem worth exploring. The Jiaodong Peninsula is located on the continental margin where the Pacific plate subducts beneath the Eurasian plate. The Jiaodong Peninsula is the largest gold production area in China. Because of the preferable geodynamic setting, the Jiaodong Peninsula is also one of the regions with the most abundant geothermal resources in eastern China. The geothermal and mineral resources in the Jiaodong Peninsula share similar geodynamic settings. Therefore, the spatial distribution of geothermal and mineral resources is highly overlapping. Many large metal mines have large reserves of mineral resources and abundant geothermal resources. However, geothermal resources are often considered detrimental to underground mining activities. This paper analyzed the spatial distribution of geothermal and mineral resources in the Jiaodong Peninsula and summarized the current low-temperature geothermal resource utilization in China. The burial depth and mining of gold resources in the Jiaodong Peninsula are relatively large. Accordingly, it is recommended to use mature low-temperature geothermal heating technology to control the heat damage of mines and realize the co-mining of mineral and geothermal resources at gold mines such as the Sanshandao, Jinqingding, Xincheng, and Linglong gold deposits.