The period 2004–2016 shows a pronounced shift toward computational fluid dynamics and experimental validation as core tools for optimizing underground ventilation configurations and wind-catcher devices, across deep-mining and tunnel contexts. Methane-control and energy recovery from ventilation air methane emerged as central themes, integrating methane behaviour modelling with catalytic combustion and energy extraction to improve emissions performance and overall system economics. Natural ventilation design and testing emphasized wind pressures, temperature-driven driving forces, and wind-catcher configurations to enhance passive ventilation, complemented by CFD-based dust-dispersion modelling and tracer-gas methodologies to inform dust-control strategies, and performance-oriented monitoring enabling dynamic ventilation management. Historical Significance: The period solidified computational fluid dynamics as a central framework for ventilation design and analysis, integrating energy-recovery concepts from ventilation air methane with natural-ventilation modelling. It also established validated dust-dispersion approaches and real-time performance metrics that shaped subsequent research directions and mine-design practices, underpinning a shift toward adaptive, data-driven ventilation strategies.