The ICMM said its Closure Maturity Framework has been designed to measure an operation's progress towards sustainable closure, while also offering advice on how to realise the best desired post-closure land use.

"ICMM's Closure Maturity Framework can identify mine closure threats and opportunities from the earliest stages of mining so that these can be proactively managed and the risk reduced," said Aidan Davy, chief operating officer.

"It also makes it easier and more cost-effective to achieve final closure objectives through effective integration."

The framework uses an interactive Excel tool that helps companies assess closure maturity at the site level, in combination with a user guide that describes maturity levels and helps companies categorise their sites.

The tool also provides a score for both current and aspirational site maturity, which can be used to track performance over time if the assessment is repeated periodically. 

"Mine closure must be considered as an integral part of an operations' core business and effectively integrated across the mining life cycle,"  added Davy.

The tool can also be used to aggregate results from multiple sites to enable companies to understand closure performance within a portfolio, wrote the ICMM.