New data from the UK’s Mines and Hydrothermal Labs show warmer water flows than expected, increasing the clean, low-cost heat cases from coallands.
Six months after its launch, the UK’s first Mines and Hydrothermal Living Institute will uncover exciting insights into what lies beneath our feet and help accelerate the safe and sustainable use of my water as a clean heat source.
Geophysical data released this month shows for the first time how much space is available to store water within underground rocks and how easily this flows through the work of a historic mine.
How much water supply is available for mines and how can they be used?
Factors known in science as porosity and permeability are important to understand the amount of hot water available, how quickly it can be used, and how well it can provide heat.
Dr. Fiona Todd, geoscientist and lead of the Mining and Relief Bureau project, explained:
“These properties help us determine the amount of heat available, how quickly we can extract it, and how sustainable it is over time.”
As part of a new data release, researchers share prominent CCTV footage from inside the borehole, providing first glimpses of old work that has not been seen since it was last mined decades ago, showing structural features that make use of the mine’s water movements and scientific findings.
Specialized equipment for understanding how mines work
These insights were made possible by using specialized tools carefully deployed by monitoring the boreholes of the Mining Water Suction Laboratory between three operating thermal schemes within the gate head shared mining block.
With this instrument, the researchers are:
See how water flows Understand how mining work can store and extract the heat to measure and interact across the shared network
Several tools used, such as calipers, gamma, density, temperature, electrical conductivity, thermal pulse flow meter, and CCTV, are commonly used in water wells.
However, the team also used a cutting-edge technique called borehole magnetic resonance (BMR), known as “MRI scans of rocks.” This illustrates the first known use of BMR in hydrothermal studies of mines, providing new insights into how water is stored and flows through underground rocks, which are important for understanding thermal resources.
Long-term sources of renewable energy
This new geophysical dataset also adds a new layer of understanding to the mission of living labs to signal the future of hydrothermal sustainable mines across the UK’s former coalfields, along with daily temperature and chemistry monitoring results.
It will work together to provide open access data to help governments, industry and academia expand the adoption of mine water as a viable, long-term renewable resource.
“As the UK’s environmental regulator, our role is to ensure that renewable thermal technology is sustainable and has a negative impact on the environment. It is great to look at the initial findings of this innovative research study and understand more about how mining water can be used for heating.
Started by the Mining Correction Bureau in January 2025, the Gateshead Mine Water Heat Living Lab is the only facility in the world designed to monitor how thermal, water and geological behaviors work between multiple operational mining water schemes in shared underground systems.
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