With the increasing awareness of ecological and environmental protection and sustainable development, the restoration of abandoned mines has garnered more attention. However, there has been limited systematic analysis of the overall research status of the restoration of abandoned mines to date. A systematic approach employing CiteSpace was utilized to analyze and visualize knowledge maps of 393 research articles on the restoration of abandoned mines. The findings reveal exponential growth in publication numbers following an initial budding stage, reaching a peak in 2020. China emerges as a central player in collaboration efforts. The top three highly cited journals are Ecological Engineering, Science of the Total Environment, and Restoration Ecology. In the keyword co-occurrence analysis, “ecological restoration” emerges as the most frequently occurring keyword, highlighting its significance as a primary research focus. Keyword co-occurrence clustering analysis reveals eight clusters, including restoration methods, soil restoration, hydrology, land-use change, acid mine drainage, soil nutrients, vegetation succession, earthworms, and abandoned mine areas, representing primary research topics. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the current research progress and development trends in abandoned mine restoration, facilitating an understanding of key focus areas in the field.