Abstract: Toxic and harmful gases in the mining industry such as CH4，H2S，NOx，SO2，CO，and H2 are one of the main reasons causing mining safety accidents. These gases may directly endanger the health of employees and the safety of the company property. Therefore，it is of great significance to realize early perception and active warning for these gases in mining safety. Gas sensor is a device that can detect the type and concentration of the target gas and output it as an electrical signal. Among different types of gas sensors，the semiconductor gas sensors have many advantages such as fast response， high sensitivity，stable performance，simple structure，and low cost，which makes them receive extensive attention in the research field of gas sensing and account for the largest proportion in practical applications. Semiconductor gas sensors have been successfully applied to the detection of mine gas，and recently they have also been used to monitor other toxic and harmful gases in mining. This paper reports the working principle，structure，and main performance parameters of the semiconductor gas sensors used for mining safety.The main preparation processessuch as template method，hydrothermal method，solvothermal method，gas phase reaction method，solid state reaction method，sol- gel method，electrospinning method，microwave-assisted method are provided，and research progress of the semiconductor gas sensing materials is given. Three main ways to improve the gas sensing performance of semiconductor materials are analyzed，namely microstructure control，noble metal doping，and construction of heterojunctions.In addition，the research status of toxic and harmful gassensors in the mining industry is described. The room-temperature response，high performance，wearable gas sensors are the research focuses on mining-safety gas sensors in the future.The research and promotion of high-performance semiconductor gas sensors are of great significance to the detection of toxic and harmful gases generated and discharged during the exploration and development of mineral resources，to improve the safe production of mines，and to realize the healthy development of mining resources in China.

Key words: mining safety, semiconductor, gas sensor, research progress