Biochar is a carbon-rich material that can improve soil properties and has the potential for mine tailings reclamation, particularly in drylands. However, few studies have examined the effect of its production conditions (e.g., biomass and temperature) and its potential benefits in these environments. In this review, we examine its effectiveness in the improvement of physicochemical and biological properties and metal(oid) retention in mine tailings from arid and semiarid environments. Our results indicate that although most biochars generally improve bulk density, moisture, organic carbon and cation exchange capacity of the mine tailings, wood (Pinus) biochar gives the best results, namely, lower bulk density, higher moisture, organic carbon, and cation exchange capacity. The biochar tends to increase the pH of treated acid mine tailings by less than 1 unit but reach up to 2 units with manure biochars. As the increasing pH is related to metal immobilization, the manure biochars had a great performance in reducing the soluble concentration of Fe, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Ni in mine tailings. However, all tested biochars increased the concentration of As. Biochar increased respiration and resulted in a slight reduction in microbial activity. In general, the biochar application to mine tailings in arid zones has multiple benefits. Nevertheless, most of the wood and pruning feedstock reported were temperate and subtropical species, which may make its use more expensive and less sustainable. Locally available feedstock as crop residues could be enriched in Na+, and Cl- representing a salinization risk with continuous application. Further work is needed to understand the biochar behavior under water stress conditions, to homogenize its production conditions by testing a greater diversity of local feedstocks, tailing types, doses, and mixtures. Additionally, it is necessary to define laboratory and field protocols for testing the biochar efficiency, including a basic set of variables to be measured, to make the reported data comparable.