Element 10 – Relinquishment

Relinquishment (p59) occurs when ownership, residual liabilities and responsibility for a former mine site can be returned to the corresponding jurisdiction, original owner or transferred to a third party, following completion of closure activities and satisfying the agreed success criteria.

If continuing maintenance and management is required, the responsibility for this under relinquishment would also transition to the new responsible party.

While challenging in practice, relinquishment forms part of the closure objectives for many operating and closed mine sites.