An integrated approach to closure - which takes environmental and social considerations into account at an early stage of an activity and throughout its lifecycle - plays a fundamental role in creating long-term value from both the environmental and social perspectives. Early in 2006, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) set out to understand current practices and issues relating to integrated environmental and social closure planning as part of an internal study. Although leading industry practices provide a benchmark of how integrated mine closure should be approached, the study concluded that this is an area where improvements can and need to be made across the sectors. This paper outlines some of the study's findings.
Fleury, A. M. & Copley, C. (2006). Integrated closure planning. In A. B. Fourie & M. Tibbett (Eds.), Proceedings of the First International Conference on Mine Closure. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth (pp. 221-226).