Newcastle University

The heavily contaminated waste water from abandoned mines poses a significant threat to the environment, and the University has established itself as one of the world’s leading centres of expertise in managing the environmental threats from mining operations — now acting as a consultant to many of the world’s leading mining companies. The research programme has two objectives: to further the understanding of the physical and geochemical processes from flooded mines; and to develop inexpensive, socially acceptable and ecologically integrated technologies for the long-term treatment of polluted water from abandoned mines. From this, it is protecting not only people’s water supplies but also many invaluable ecosystems from one of the most insidious forms of water pollution.