Abstract A high-resolution seismic survey has been completed in the Yuanbaoshan open-pit coal mine in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. To overcome the problems in transmitting and receiving caused by the morain-gravel cover, the data acquisition techniques, such as shallow depth shot, small volume of charge, and geophone grouping, have been selected through tests. Predictive deconvolution and two-dimensional (2-D) filtering have been successfully used in data processing to suppress the shallow multi-reflected waves and improve the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. Fault F 2 in the east side slope of the coal mine which was missed by drilling, has been delineated by the seismic survey. This fault exerts a great influence on the stability of the side slope of the coal mine. Fault F 1 , the east boundary of the open-pit mine, is clearly recorded on seismic profiles. Some small faults in the coal measures of the Yuanbaoshan group have also been found by the seismic survey. Since the reliability of the seismic data has been proven by drilling, the geologic map of the area has been modified on the basis of the seismic data.