This paper gives a brief review of seismicity and seismic monitoring in surface mines. A summary of various researches related to seismicity is presented. Our research focuses on the understanding of seismicity and the application of analytical techniques to seismicity. Seismic monitoring plays an important role in the identification of potential failure planes and thereby predict potential failures. Much of the instrumentation used in our research is derived from earthquake monitoring systems. The major aspects in seismic monitoring are an instrumentation used, size of the network and data acquisition systems. Seismic monitoring in surface mines could be successfully applied to the improvement of safety standards in slope stability.