[olau]

The sources I've seen point out plenty of places. They may be overoptimistic. But excavation is really expensive, and in a competitive market, you cannot just throw money at the problem. It's the same reason nuclear fission is dead in many markets.

[Intermernet]

Australia loves excavation. If you could double up mining with pumped hydro you'd be the belle of the ball.

[taneq]

I've thought for a while that old open-cut iron ore pits could be prime spots for 'inside-out' pumped hydro, like that system that some German researchers were working which pumped water out of submerged concrete spheres instead of up a mountain.

[psd1]

If you have abandoned deep shafts, they may be smaller in volume than an open pit, but they have several hundred metres of head, so every kilogram of water is much more effective than in schemes with less head.

[globalise83]

It could make a nice option for huge abandoned open cast mines - build a dam across the pit, flood it and then pump water from one side to the other using solar-generated electricity, allowing it to flow back to generate electricity as and when needed.

For example: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/abandoned-min...

[rtkwe]

A big problem is those mines usually leave behind pretty toxic remains so the water you're pumping around is extremely hostile to the people and equipment you're thinking of putting it through/near. Then there's the chance of a dam collapse releasing that toxic water outside the mine.