Abstract: In recent decades, the transfer of mining rights in China has fully adopted competitive transfer methods, such as bidding, auction and listing, with the market playing an increasingly important role in the allocation of mineral resources. To further strengthen the application of auction theory in mining rights transfer and improve the primary mining rights market in China, this paper provides a systematic review of the historical development, typical methods, and core viewpoints of auction theory. Combining with the evolution and reform of the mining rights transfer system, the paper also discusses the positive effects and current issues of auction theory in the market allocation of mining rights, offering relevant suggestions for optimizing its practical application in China. The research indicates that auction theory has been successfully applied in various fields, including mineral resource transfer, through long-term innovative development. In summary, auction theory has a significant impact on optimizing the mining rights market, including fully realizing the value of mining rights, protecting the rights of national owners and investors, optimizing resource allocation efficiency, as well as improving market transparency and fairness. However, there are still problems in the increasingly complex situation of mining rights transfer, such as Winner’s Curse, asymmetric information, outdated auction formats, and human intervention. Finally, it proposes several suggestions that the mining rights transfer market in China should strengthen the rating and evaluation, improve the information disclosure mechanism, comprehensively consider the conditions for determining the final bidder, innovate auction theory and forms with Chinese characteristics, and strengthen market supervision, based on the objective laws and practical applications of auction theory in the process of mining rights transfer.