Application and Prospect of Curtain Grouting Technology in Mine Water Safety Management in China: A Review

In China, mine curtain grouting has become an important technology to ensure the safe and efficient mining of deep mineral resources and protect regional groundwater resources after more than 60 years of development and improvement. This review paper summarizes and analyzes four aspects of the current situation of curtain grouting technology in deep underground mines: curtain construction conditions, theoretical design and effects, drilling structures, and grouting materials’ research and development. In addition, several main problems of curtain grouting technology in deep underground mines are analyzed: planning and construction lag behind; the theory of mine curtain grouting is not mature enough; the investigation into the mechanism of consolidation and deterioration of grout slurry under long-term high pressure is insufficient; there is a lack of research on the long-term effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation, so precise drilling control technology needs further breakthroughs. In addition, the development directions of this technology are put forward from three aspects: precise directional drilling technology; the consolidation mechanism and durability of slurry under multi-field coupling conditions; and long-term dynamic monitoring, evaluation, and early warning for grouting curtain effectiveness. In the future, mine curtain grouting will become an important mine geological guarantee technology for safety, efficiency, accurate, sustainability, and green mining of the Earth’s deep resources.