Element 11 – Closure Governance

Closure governance involves reconciling the roles and relationships of stakeholders within the mining company, as well as the goals of closure with the overall goals of the organisation. Corporate and closure governance will relate directly to the process of decision-making and the interactions between the stakeholders involved in solving closure challenges. Effective closure governance will affect every aspect of closure planning at an operation. 

To ensure an adequate level of closure governance, it is recommended to establish the following:

  • Company policies or standards for closure to establish expectations, roles and responsibilities in a form that is compatible with corporate structure
  • A closure committee to coordinate the closure planning process and its integration into operational planning

Closure committee

Establishing a closure committee for implementation at the asset level has emerged as best practice to confirm that the closure planning process is carried out in accordance with company standards and legal requirements, and that it is fully incorporated into operational planning.

To help with change management consider:

  • Providing documentation of trade-off studies and risk assessments conducted during the mine life
  • Ensuring documentation identifies the chosen closure activities and also the reasons that other measures were not used
  • Monitoring data from operations and closure that should be managed in searchable data bases with various site staff familiar with their operation
  • Keeping detailed records of all progressive closure
  • Preparing as-built drawings of all mine facilities and closure works

Top Tips:

  • Have a comprehensive mine closure standard (p64) that addresses the full range of corporate policies related to closure. This document will link with other corporate policy documents.