Background Abandoned mine water is not only a major pollution source in mining areas, but also an important carrier for the recovery of strategic critical metals and the utilization of underground space. In China, water pollution caused by mining activities shows a spatial pattern of being more severe in the south than in the north.

Advances  This differentiation is jointly shaped by climatic conditions, geological settings and mining history. From the frontier perspective of environmental geochemistry, this paper systematically reviews the formation and evolution mechanisms of acid mine drainage (AMD), as well as the integrated technologies for pollution control, resource recovery and energy utilization. Regarding temporal evolution, water quality in abandoned mines undergoes distinct stages after mine closure: an initial peak of heavy metal concentrations dominated by inorganic water-rock reactions, a microbially driven self-purification process in the medium term, and a dynamic equilibrium state after long-term integration into the regional groundwater system. At the microscopic mechanism level, by analyzing the kinetic process of pyrite oxidation, it is pointed out that the initiation of neutrophilic microbes in the early stage of acidification is a key factor controlling the release rate of acid mine drainage. At the interface process level, by clarifying the source-sink evolution of pollutants in complex karst-water media, the nonlinear control mechanism of heavy metal adsorption-desorption by secondary mineral precipitation and aging induced by the buffering effect of carbonate rocks is revealed.

Prospects  Based on the above understanding of staged evolution, the selection of technologies for valuable resource recovery should be deeply coupled with water quality stages. In the early closure stage, an electrochemically activated limestone system is suitable for targeted metal recovery; in the middle closure stage, valuable elements in enriched precipitated slags can be extracted via sulfuric acid leaching; in the long-term closure stage, a classified treatment, storage and utilization system should be established according to different water quality characteristics. This paper aims to provide a scientific basis and technical pathway for establishing a new paradigm of water pollution control and valuable element resource utilization in abandoned mines.