Integrated Mine Closure: Good Practice Guide

© International Council on Mining and Metals, 2019

The ICMM’s Integrated mine closure: good practice guide provides mining companies with the guidance needed to effectively integrate closure across the mining life cycle. This in turn creates the opportunity for companies to be proactive in identifying and addressing risks early before they become material with the potential to compromise eventual mine closure, as well as to building stakeholder confidence. The guide is intended to support the goal of delivering a positive legacy while balancing environmental protection and social well-being with financial performance.

This guide is applicable to new mines, existing mines and legacy sites, and is intended for use across the spectrum of mining companies, from major multinationals to single asset junior mining companies. The guide is not exhaustive but does establish the practices and expectations for closure applicable at a broad variety of sites and can be used as guidance on the standard of practice for sites in the absence of formal regulatory/government requirements. It has been designed to be largely compatible with different regulatory regimes and corporate guidelines.