Preservation and liquidation of selected mines is a serious problem of mineral resources sector. It is acknowledged that “disturbed” lands lose their value due to such activity, and land reclamation appears to be the most efficient solution for this problem. Not all the sites of mines are subject to unconditional liquidation given the academic and historic-cultural potential what allows considering these territories in a different capacity. The practice of industrial space revitalization by museumification and art-interpretation, the arrangement of such sites for sports and further integration of the re-structured zone into everyday life is of interest. Also the problem of selecting the sites recommended to be preserved and demonstrate mining industry development for the succeeding generations has not been solved. Selection of such sites is to be performed effectually using scientifically grounded methods. The authors suggest a comprehensive system for assessing cultural and commercial potential of mining-industrial monuments that allows selecting the most promising ones. The approach is based on focusing on efficient long-term work of former industrial sites as recreated territories. “Disturbed” lands with traces of old mines in different regions of Russia, both in use and abandoned mining-industrial territories are the research’s objects. Conclusions of the possibility to use old mines are based on the assessment of some general and special characteristics of the monument, condition of its sites of interest and their aesthetic component, the location (to provide accessibility and maintenance), the existence of unique features, the possibility to create new goods or services based on it, analysis of the targeted audience, assessment of ecological risks and security issues solubility. In Karelia, Altai and Sverdlovsk Region there are tens of abandoned mines having historical value that in case of reclamation are in danger of losing their unique image. The reality is so that mineral developers/owners of “disturbed” lands have to choose between the expensive procedures of depleted mine reclamation and the other ways of its further use; these methods can be balanced. The suggested conception allows optimizing activities on reclamation, contributes to preservation of the selected industrial territories as cultural, historical and technical legacy.