In the arid and semi-arid areas of northwest China, moderate irrigation is a necessary condition for the early stage survival of vegetation reconstruction in the mining area. Through the method of field periodic observation and laboratory analysis, the ideal state of vegetation irrigation of mine dump slope should meet the following requirements: (1) Neither deep leakage nor slope runoff occurs in the irrigation process, so as to prevent secondary soil and water loss. (2) Soil moisture should be controlled below the safe threshold of slope stability to prevent excessive water from forming the phenomenon of the slump. Through the analysis of the field test data, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) Water-saving irrigation system should be developed for different vegetation types and configurations for different hydrological years. (2) Two sets of water-saving irrigation technology schemes suitable for local areas were proposed. (3) A graded gradient irrigation technology, namely the primary irrigation water, should be completed in sections according to the up-slope: mid-slope: down-slope ratio of 55%: 30%: 15% to make full use of irrigation water and avoid slope runoff.

Humans affect the global carbon cycle primarily through land use activities. In particular, the acceleration of opencast coal mining has induced serious problems such as the increase of carbon emissions in mining areas and the decline of ecosystem functions. Therefore, it has become critical to explore optimal land use structures with the best ecological benefits under low carbon emissions and provide theoretical support for the optimization and adjustment of land use structures in arid desert mining areas, especially in northwest China. Taking the Luotuoshan mining area in Wuhai City of northwest China as the research area, this study estimated carbon emissions from land use activities in the mining area and constructed a land use optimization scheme focused on low carbon emission and high ecological service value using a multi-objective programming model. The results showed that under the optimization scheme, the area of grassland and water land use types increased, while those of mining land and unused land decreased. Compared with 2021, the optimization scheme could decrease carbon emissions by 19045.93 tC and increase the ecosystem service value by 53381400 yuan. Thus, the optimization scheme of land use structure can improve the ecological benefits of land use and ensure low carbon emission in mining areas. The findings will provide scientific guidance for the optimization of the land use structure and ecological restoration in arid desert areas of northwest China.