In this study a technical approach was proposed to protect the cultivated land from subsidence and mitigate contamination from colliery gangue heaps on the basis of analyzing the influence mechanism of mining subsidence on cultivated land. The model to assess the capacity for protection of cultivated land was established and applied to Wugou coal mine, China. The results indicated the following: 1) Gangue backfilling mining technology can not only protect cultivated land, but also avoid wastage of surface land resources and eliminate pollution caused by the accumulation of gangue. 2) The protection of arable land by direct backfilling of gangue was 25 ha/Mt and that by implementing underground treatment to avoid loss of surface land by occupation of gangue was 5.087 ha/Mt. The four provinces in China that face these two serious problems were taken as examples to analyze prospects for the promotion and application of this technology. This theoretical and applied research can provide a new technical approach for the protection of cultivated land and mitigating gangue contamination. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.