Transparent working face model is an important prerequisite for achieving safe and efficient production in coal mines, and it is of great significance for realising accurate coal mining and geological safeguard. Taking the working face of a mine under complex geological conditions as an example, the research on transparent working face model construction technology and system for intelligent mining is carried out. Firstly, the self-developed Transparent Mine 3D Geological Modelling System (TIM-3D for short) is introduced, which provides an excellent solution for complex geological modelling by virtue of its unique development concept and advanced algorithms. Secondly, the TIN-GTP algorithm and implicit iterative modelling technique were proposed to successfully solve the challenges faced during the construction of inverse faults. Subsequently, a transparent working face model was constructed using the TIM-3D system to visualise the spatial morphology and spreading pattern of the strata, rock seams, coal seams and their tectonics 50m above and below the No.9 coal seam. The transparent working face model not only provides accurate geological navigation for intelligent mining, but also realises mutual information feedback with the ‘three machines’, which further improves the level of intelligence.