Coal is an important resource that has supported China’s economic development. This situation is expected to continue in the immediate future. However, coal mining has also led to serious environmental disasters in some mining areas. Henan Province is one of the 14 large-scale coal bases that are planned by the Chinese state. It is located in the transitional zone between the second and third terrain ladders of China and spans two tectonic units. The geological features and ecological environmental characteristics display wide spatial variations throughout this district, which is an ecologically fragile region of stepped transition type. However, large-scale, extremely intense coal mining activities will inevitably lead to further deterioration of the already fragile ecological and geological (eco-geological) environment, which makes recovery increasingly difficult. Based on the condition of the eco-geological environment and the coal mining industry in the Henan mining area, the mechanisms by which mining-induced damage can occur were analyzed. The characteristics and status of the destruction of ground structures, land resources, water resources, the atmospheric environment, and natural ecology are discussed in this paper. Appropriate mitigation measures are proposed based on the findings. This mainly includes: management practices to prevent and mitigate damage throughout all stages of mining; adoption of mining techniques that will control damage at the source; and, the adoption of appropriate post-mining recovery technologies. The analysis of mining-induced eco-geological environmental damage and mitigation measures is of importance for the prevention of eco-geological disasters, and the promotion of efficient and environmentally sustainable exploitation of coal resources.

Coal will occupy the main position in China's energy structure for a long time, and the negative externalities of its exploitation have a serious impact on the ground surface and its appurtenances. With the proposal of the dual carbon strategy, the coal-based energy determines that green and safe coal mining should be the priority direction of China's energy development. Taking Xinyi coalmine, which is mined in unstable coal seams with large mining depth, as the research area, the surface response characteristic and subsidence law under the different mining degrees were clarified. Meanwhile, the damage mechanism of buildings was revealed, which was from no obvious damage to Grade Ⅳ under the extremely insufficient mining to subcritical mining. Based on the sustainable development and green production in coalmines, the overburden grout injection technique under buildings that does not affect the normal production was proposed, and its technical principle was described. A weighted grey relational analysis model was established, and obtained that the panel width was the main factor affecting the overburden failure height under subcritical mining. According to the definition of overburden failure degree proposed by the author, the feasibility of overburden grout injection technique under buildings was analyzed and the key parameters, such as slurry diffusion radius, borehole position and depth, grouting system and technology, were determined and successfully applied. The engineering application shows that the maximum surface subsidence after grouting is 253 mm, and the building damage is within the Grade I. Meanwhile, 5.82 Mt of coal resources under the buildings have been liberated, which realizes high quality coal mining, low environmental damage, green and low-carbon, and also provides a reference for the sustainable development of coal enterprises, especially for the exhausted coalmines that recover coal pillars.

There are risks of water burst and sand inrush in the working face of the Northwest Mining Area in China. Based on the 22407 working face of Halagou coal mine, the evolution characteristics and mechanism of a two‐zone failure mode of the overburden strata in shallow buried thick seam mining were thoroughly analysed using physical modelling, theoretical analysis, on‐site observation, and other research methods. A method to calculate the overburden fissure width was also proposed. The analysis results indicated that the evolution of a two‐zone failure mode of the overburden strata mainly includes four stages: gestation, formation, transformation, and stabilization. In the transformation stage, a fracture zone is transformed into a caving zone. The caving zone and fracture zone are separately transferred to the working face direction based on the structure type of key strata of voussoir beam and cantilever beam after the heights of the two zones stabilize, and the “two‐belt” cracks are mainly composed of inclined and horizontal fissures. Based on this study, the mechanism of the two‐zone failure mode of overburden strata development was analysed according to the mining height and overburden strata key layer structure. This paper serves as a guide for safe and green mining on shallow buried thick seams.

As coal resources trapped under surface buildings in the Wangtaipu coal mine area impede the efficient mining of coal seams and constrain the sustainable development of coal mines, a super-high-water roadway backfill mining technique for preventing building damage was adopted. According to the control principle and theoretical calculations, an engineering design was established including the reasonable width of segment coal pillars in the working face and technical parameter design. The monitoring results after the implementation of the scheme showed that building deformation was controlled within grade I, protecting the surface buildings. A reasonable roadway design parameter was achieved, with a surface subsidence of 27 mm and horizontal deformation of 0.3 mm/m, indicating that it can ensure the safety of surface buildings from the State Bureau of Coal Industry. The practical trial can provide a reference for the extraction of coal resources under similar conditions and is vital for the sustainable development of the mining industry and economic growth.