Rocks as useful minerals of geothermal fields

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2025-4S-112-115

Читать на русскоя языкеA.N. Shulyupin
Mining Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Khabarovsk, Russian Federation
Russian Mining Industry №4S / 2025 p. 112-115

Abstract: The paper discusses general issues of extracting geothermal energy from its carriers based on analyzing the currently available technologies. A lack of scientific, methodological, and regulatory support, primarily in the mining sector, due to the negative processes during the ‘perestroika’ period is noted, which hinders the development of domestic geothermal resources. Consideration of geothermal resources from the point of view of thermal physics indicates their inherent connection with the energy carriers. This allows us to classify this type of georesources as a group of mineral deposits. A specific feature of geothermal fields (deposits) is noted, which consists in the possibility to find energy carriers in three phase states, i.e. solid, liquid and gaseous. At the same time, solid rocks, unlike carriers in the other phase states, are an obligatory, integral part of geothermal fields. The presence of both renewable and non-renewable reserves of fields is also noted. Using the example of the largest domestic geothermal field (Mutnovskoye in Kamchatka), it is shown that solid rocks constitute about 98% of the non-renewable part of the reserves, capable of providing the current level of energy production for more than a 100 years. The use of heat pumps in combination with coaxial borehole heat exchangers is shown to be a promising direction for the development of geothermal resources in the Arctic zone, which will reduce the severity of the soil thawing problem in areas of active human activities.

Keywords: geothermal resources, rocks, geothermal energy carriers, hot dry rock, geothermal deposit, enhanced geothermal systems, heat pump, borehole heat exchanger

For citation: Shulyupin A.N. Rocks as useful minerals of geothermal fields. Russian Mining Industry. 2025;(4S):112–115. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2025-4S-112-115

Article info

Received: 06.07.2025

Revised: 18.08.2025

Accepted: 23.08.2025

Information about the author

Alexander N. Shulyupin – Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Director, Mining Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Khabarovsk, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7379-410X; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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