During the past 20 years, the microseismic technique has grown from a pure research means for rockburst study to a basic industrial tool for daily safety monitoring at rockburst-prone mines. This article examines the important issues for efficient mine microseismic monitoring programs. The key technical issues for such a program are discussed from three aspects: monitoring planning, data processing, and microseismic event location. An efficient monitoring program would be impossible without a firm commitment of the mine management. Issues related to the management and mine operations are discussed, including monitoring program integration, efficient use of microseismic data, and the benefit of monitoring programs for mine safety and productivity. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.