Mining activities inevitably produce enormous mine water drainage result in many problems in China’s mine areas, such as poor water quality, high-cost water treatment, improper disposal approaches. This paper investigated the characteristics of mine water quality for seeking low-cost mine water treatment approaches and reducing deep mine water surface drainage (DMWSD). High concentration of conventional components is the main factor causing poor deep mine water quality, and the contents and proportions of toxic and harmful substances in mine water are lower than our imagination, more than 70% coal mines have better water quality than groundwater class III standard in China. We compared the differences between deep mine water quality and acid mine drainage (AMD) and pointed out the types of mine water that can be treated by ultra-deep injection and storage (UDIS), such as acidulous, alkalescent and high TDS types deep mine water. The technological framework of UDIS was established in this paper, and some technical and scientific questions of UDIS were proposed. Then the rationality, effectiveness and feasibility of UDIS technology were certified by a in situ UDIS project in Ordos Basin, China. Finally, we proposed some theory and technology bottlenecks of the UDIS approach. The UDIS technology will be of great significance to protecting water resources and sustainable environment of water dynamic, ecology and chemistry, and it provides a typical paradigm for reasonable DMWSD reduction at mine areas.

Deep mine water; Water quality characteristics; Ultra-deep injection and storage; Surface drainage reduction