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RFP: Mine water Geothermal Study, Springhill, NS, Canada

RFP: Mine water Geothermal Study, Springhill, NS, Canada Old postcard of Springhill, Nova Scotia with old coal mines in the background (source: NS Museum, History Collection)
Alexander Richter 13 Oct 2016

A request for proposals for a study on mine water for geothermal use has been issued by a community in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Published in late September 2016 with a deadline at the end of October 2016, the Cumberland Energy Authority (CEA) in Nova Scotia/ Canada is requesting proposals from qualified firms, to conduct a spatial analysis review of the abandoned underground mine workings of the former Springhill coal mines and provide recommendations and technical assistance for deep well test boreholes.

The spatial review will check the accuracy of previously geo-referenced mine workings while the borehole component of the RFP includes assistance to the CEA with the location, drilling, geotechnical logging, and testing of deeper boreholes drilled into the mine workings. Additional details on the RFP requirements are included in the Scope of Work section.

There is a large potential for utilising existing but abandoned mines in the province of Nova Scotia and other mining areas around the world, to utilise higher temperatures underground for heating purposes above ground.

The municipality of Springhill, Nova Scotia, has been using water pumped down and utilising heated water for heating for years in some smaller scale system. Other communities across Canada have also looked into similar systems, such as in the Yukon as we reported a few years back. We also reported on an increasing interest on using abandoned mines for heating projects.

Source: Cumberland County, RFP-CEO16-01 (pdf)