Abstract: In view of the problem that a large number of safety pillars in the wellbore of metal mines are pressed，resulting in a serious waste of resources，a method for optimizing the safety pillars based on the mechanical properties of rock strata is proposed by taking the overlying ore body of a mine air shaft in Anhui as an example. The numerical simulation method is used to analyze the safety impact of the mining of the overlying ore body on the wellbore. The results show that based on the rock properties revealed by the bore⁃ holes near the south air shaft，the traditional method of safety pillar delineation is used to delineate the bro⁃ ken and fractured parts of the shallow surrounding rock，which is a truncated cone type. The better part of the deep surrounding rock is optimized to be cylindrical. After optimization，the diameter of the southern air shaft security pillar is 148 m，and it is expected to recover nearly 99.8 % of the ore volume of the original overburden ore body. The mining disturbance of the overlying ore body has little influence on the safety of the air shaft. Within the allowable range of the relevant specifications，it can ensure the needs of mine safety production.

Key words: safety pillar, mining disturbance, shaft deformation, overlying ore body