Abstract: Open-pit mining is recognized as one of the direct factors affecting the degradation of vegetation and the ecological environment surrounding mining areas. The disturbance of vegetation during the process of open-pit mining is mainly characterized by two processes: damage and restoration. Monitoring vegetation changes through the temporal variation of vegetation indices is a commonly employed method to evaluate the ecological restoration status of mining areas.Seven frequently used vegetation indices were screened: Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI), Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI), Difference Vegetation Index (DVI), Modified Soil Adjustment Vegetation Index (MSAVI), Redness Index (RI) and a comparative analysis was then conducted to evaluate their effectiveness in extracting vegetation disturbance in the Shendong Coal Base over a long timespan (1990—2021). The findings reveal a correlation between vegetation coverage and the identification accuracy of various vegetation indices at the scale of individual mining areas. At the coal base scale, NDVI, GNDVI, and DVI are all suitable indices for extracting vegetation disturbances in the Shendong Coal Base. In identifying three types of disturbances—restored after damage, damaged without restoration, and undamaged—except for RI, all other indices effectively extracted the disturbance types within the mining area, achieving an overall identification accuracy exceeding 80%. Furthermore, for the extraction of disturbance timing, NDVI, GNDVI, and DVI demonstrated superior recognition effectiveness, with extraction accuracies for damage timing at 82%, 80%, and 76%, respectively, and for restoration timing at 95%, 91%, and 88%. Large-scale mining in the Shendong Coal Base began after 2005, followed by significant restoration efforts initiated after 2010. The integration of various restoration measures post-extraction has led to improvements in the ecological environment of the mining area. This research provides data support and scientific basis for the optimal selection and application of vegetation indices. A reasonable selection of vegetation indices is crucial for grasping the overall ecological status of mining areas, making it of great significance for monitoring the ecological impacts of open-pit coal mining and supporting the formulation of restoration measures.