Surface mining's global footprint is vast, but its history of damage and recovery was unclear. Our study presents the first global time series of surface mining and land reclamation from 1985–2022. Across 74 000 mines, we quantified over 40 596 km² of land disturbance, revealing that this damage has far outpaced reclamation efforts, especially in fragile ecosystems. This new dataset is crucial for monitoring land health and creating policies for more sustainable mining.