Mine closure plan: what the regulation requires and how it is prepared

The Mine Closure Plan defines how a mine is dismantled, how the disturbed area is left stable, and what is monitored once the workings end. Since July 2026 it is governed by a regulation of its own, which applies to title holders and to beneficiaries of temporary authorizations that are in construction and assembly or in production.

Before, closure was handled as the dismantling and abandonment plan within the Environmental Impact Assessment. It is now a plan of its own, submitted with the PTO to the Mining Authority and the Environmental Authority, and in small-scale mining with a PTOD it goes as an annex. The regulation recognizes progressive, temporary, early, final and gradual technical closure. The last applies to small-scale mining with an environmental instrument and to miners in formalization or legalization.

The plan brings together what is needed to leave the area safe and stable:

• Dismantling: equipment is removed and the stability of the remaining structures is secured.
• Recovery: the ground is restored, water is managed and the landscape is rehabilitated.
• Post-closure: the area is monitored once the closure works are finished.

In medium and large-scale mining the plan is updated every five years, or earlier if the operation changes or the authority requests it. Whoever has a PTO or an EIA under review enters a transition regime.

As of October 2026 neither the plan's terms of reference nor the regulation on its financial guarantees has been issued. A plan prepared today follows the regulation in force, which already sets its content, and will need to be adjusted when those documents are issued.

We prepare the plan as part of the PTO or the PTOD, aligned with the environmental management plan. For each applicable type of closure we define the measures, their costs and their schedule, so that closure is budgeted while the mine is still producing. If your PTO or EIA is still under review, we check what the transition requires of you, and we then support execution. Approval rests with the authorities.