Abstract: To detect the water-rich areas in coal seams, the wide-field electromagnetic method (WFEM) was employed in the Xinyuan mining area of Huayang New Material Technology Group Co., Ltd. for the first time. Meanwhile, the controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT) was used for comparison. According to the comparison results of the apparent resistivity curves, frequency-apparent resistivity pseudo sections, and inversion results, WFEM enjoys the advantages of large detection depth, high efficiency, and high precision and thus serves as a new effective technology for the detection of water-rich areas in coal mines.