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Quest Training

Mine Closure Planning & Rehabilitation Management Training Course

Manages mine closure as a long-term liability: closure plans, rehabilitation, financial assurance, post-closure care, and community transition.

MGS · Mining Governance & SustainabilityAll Levels#3077ClassroomEnglish , Arabic
Duration
5 Days
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Free substitution at any time · 30+ days' notice: full refund minus 10%. Cancellation policy

Sectors:Mining & MineralsCategories:Mining Governance & Sustainability

Course Overview

The Mine Closure Planning & Rehabilitation Management Training Course equips mine managers, finance leaders, environmental professionals, and mining authority officials with the management knowledge needed to plan closure from the earliest project stage and to fund the long-term obligations it creates. Closure is a business, regulatory, and social commitment that can outlast the mine by generations, yet many operations still treat it as a late engineering task. Where closure plans are weak, governments and communities can inherit unstable land, polluted water, and lost livelihoods. The course centers on long-term liabilities and how they are funded. Participants learn how to estimate closure costs, recognize and update provisions, and compare forms of financial assurance such as bonds, trust funds, and guarantees, with attention to what happens if an operator fails, sells, or stops production early, and who then pays for the remaining work. They examine the accounting treatment of closure obligations under IAS 37 as a management topic, the transfer of liability to successors or the state, and the governance of relinquishment. Participants work with the ICMM integrated mine closure guidance, the IFC Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Mining, the mine closure materials of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, and national mining law as a governance reference. Rehabilitation is addressed as a program to be managed: progressive rehabilitation, closure objectives and success criteria, tailings and water liabilities, post-closure monitoring, and the use of specializts. Community transition covers workforce, local suppliers, services, and post-mining land use. The course is delivered through closure case studies, cost estimation exercises, financial assurance comparisons, stakeholder scenario sessions, and a final closure plan workshop. Participants leave with a closure risk register, a closure cost estimate structure, a financial assurance options paper, a rehabilitation monitoring framework, and a closure plan outline they can adapt to their own mine or authority. The course does not teach engineering design or field reclamation techniques.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain why mine closure is a long-term business, regulatory, and social obligation from the earliest project stage.
  • Integrate closure planning into feasibility studies, mine plans, and capital decisions so that liabilities are visible from the start.
  • Identify physical, chemical, ecological, and socio-economic closure risks and assign clear owners for them.
  • Set closure objectives and measurable success criteria with regulators and communities before rehabilitation work is committed.
  • Structure closure cost estimates that are transparent, reviewable, and regularly updated.
  • Explain how closure provisions are recognized and updated under IAS 37 as a management topic.
  • Compare bonds, trust funds, guarantees, and other forms of financial assurance and judge how each performs if an operator fails.
  • Assess liability transfer risk when a mine is sold, placed in care and maintenance, or abandoned.
  • Manage progressive rehabilitation as a funded program with owners, schedules, and reviews.
  • Oversee specializts responsible for tailings, water, and long-term stability liabilities.
  • Design post-closure monitoring, maintenance, and governance arrangements that remain workable after the operator's site team has left.
  • Plan community transition, workforce change, local supplier support, and post-mining land use.
  • Advise regulators and boards on relinquishment conditions and residual risk.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for mine general managers, closure and rehabilitation managers, environmental and social managers, planning managers, project directors, and asset managers who carry responsibility for the long-term future of a mining site, whether it is still in design, in full production, or nearing the end of its life. It is equally relevant for chief financial officers, financial controllers, treasury and insurance managers, internal auditors, and risk managers who must estimate, provide for, and secure closure obligations, as well as legal counsel and company secretaries who advise boards on residual liability, sale of assets, and disclosure to lenders and investors. Officials in ministries of mines, mining authorities, environmental agencies, and regional governments across the Gulf and Africa will benefit when they review closure plans, hold financial assurance, or inherit abandoned sites. Staff of development finance institutions, lenders, and community development organizations will also find it useful when they assess the long-term risks of mining projects and the plans intended to manage them. It is particularly valuable for organizations preparing a first closure plan, operators approaching the end of mine life, and governments drafting or reviewing their closure policy and financial assurance arrangements.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Explain mine closure obligations to boards, regulators, and community representatives in clear business terms.
  • Build a closure risk and obligations register for a mining site with named owners and review points.
  • Integrate closure planning into feasibility studies and mine plans so that liabilities shape early decisions.
  • Agree closure objectives and measurable success criteria with key stakeholders.
  • Structure a transparent closure cost estimate and plan its regular review over the life of the mine.
  • Explain the management implications of closure provisions under IAS 37 for finance teams and boards.
  • Compare forms of financial assurance and recommend a suitable option for an operator or a regulator.
  • Identify the liability transfer risks in a mine sale or change of control and propose safeguards.
  • Manage progressive rehabilitation as a funded program with named owners and schedules.
  • Design post-closure monitoring and relinquishment conditions for a site that address residual risk.
  • Plan workforce, supplier, and community transition before production ends with early engagement.
  • Build a closure plan outline covering funding, rehabilitation, and transition.

Course Outline

Course Outline:

Day 1

Mine Closure as a Long-Term Liability

  • Why closure belongs in the project from the start, not at the end of mine life
  • Closure as a business, regulatory, and social obligation
  • Consequences of weak closure: abandoned sites, public liabilities, and lost livelihoods
  • Closure stages: planning, progressive rehabilitation, decommissioning, and post-closure care
  • Unplanned closure, care and maintenance, and premature cessation of production
  • National mining law and the regulator's role, as a governance reference
  • Reference points: ICMM integrated mine closure guidance and the IFC guidelines for mining
  • Practical application: participants build a closure risk and obligations register for a sample mine
Day 2

Closure Planning and Objectives

  • Conceptual, detailed, and final closure plans and when each is required by good practice
  • Integrating closure into feasibility studies, mine plans, and capital decisions
  • Setting closure objectives with regulators and communities
  • Measurable success criteria and how to agree them
  • Physical, chemical, ecological, and socio-economic closure risks
  • Post-mining land use options and how to compare them
  • Closure governance: sponsor, committee, owners, and review cycle
  • Closure plan review cycles and triggers for an early update
  • Practical application: participants draft closure objectives and success criteria for a sample mine
Day 3

Closure Costing, Provisions, and Financial Assurance

  • Structure of a closure cost estimate: scope, unit rates, contingency, and third-party rates
  • Reviewing and updating closure estimates over the life of the mine
  • Accounting provisions under IAS 37 and the discussion finance teams must lead
  • Forms of financial assurance: bonds, trust funds, guarantees, and insurance
  • Strengths and weaknesses of each form when an operator fails
  • How regulators review, hold, and release financial assurance
  • Mine sales, change of control, and transfer of closure liability
  • Disclosure to boards, lenders, and investors
  • Practical application: participants prepare a cost estimate structure and a financial assurance options paper
Day 4

Managing Rehabilitation and Post-Closure Liabilities

  • Progressive rehabilitation as a funded program with owners and schedules
  • Managing specializts for landform, revegetation, and water work without designing it
  • Tailings, waste rock, and water as long-term liabilities: management questions to ask
  • Long-term water management and who pays for it after the mine stops
  • Post-closure monitoring, maintenance, and data ownership
  • Relinquishment conditions, residual risk, and handover to the state or a successor
  • Legacy and abandoned mines: inventory, priorities, and public funding
  • Practical application: participants build a rehabilitation monitoring framework and relinquishment checklist
Day 5

Community Transition and the Closure Plan

  • Social transition planning and early engagement with communities and local government
  • Workforce transition, redeployment, and support for employees
  • Local suppliers, public services, and infrastructure handed over at closure
  • Economic diversification and realistic post-mining livelihoods
  • Grievance handling and expectations management during decline
  • Communicating closure to employees, investors, and the public
  • Assurance, independent review, and regulatory dialogue on closure plans
  • Lessons from mines that closed well and mines that did not
  • Final workshop: participants develop a closure plan outline with funding, rehabilitation, and transition arrangements

Upcoming Dates

Selected date

London · 6 – 10 Sept 2027 · Classroom

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KigaliScheduled
2 – 6 Nov 2026€7,700—
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9 – 13 Nov 2026€4,700—
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LisbonScheduled
16 – 20 Nov 2026€6,000—
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LondonScheduled
16 – 20 Nov 2026€5,800—
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MadinahScheduled
23 – 27 Nov 2026€4,800€4,320until 2 Nov
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30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€6,000€5,400until 9 Nov
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30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€4,800€4,320until 9 Nov
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ManamaScheduled
7 – 11 Dec 2026€5,300€4,770until 16 Nov
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MuscatScheduled
14 – 18 Dec 2026€6,300€5,670until 23 Nov
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OnlineScheduled
20 – 24 Dec 2026€2,700€2,430until 30 Nov
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ParisScheduled
21 – 25 Dec 2026€6,700€6,030until 30 Nov
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28 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027€5,300€4,770until 7 Dec
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AbujaScheduled
4 – 8 Jan 2027€7,700€6,930until 14 Dec
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SingaporeScheduled
4 – 8 Jan 2027€9,100€8,190until 14 Dec
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AccraScheduled
11 – 15 Jan 2027€7,700€6,930until 21 Dec
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AmmanScheduled
17 – 21 Jan 2027€4,000€3,600until 28 Dec
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18 – 22 Jan 2027€6,000€5,400until 28 Dec
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BakuScheduled
25 – 29 Jan 2027€5,300€4,770until 4 Jan
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1 – 5 Feb 2027€6,000€5,400until 11 Jan
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BerlinScheduled
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CairoScheduled
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22 – 26 Feb 2027€7,700€6,930until 1 Feb
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CasablancaScheduled
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DammamScheduled
28 Feb – 4 Mar 2027€4,800€4,320until 8 Feb
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DohaScheduled
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DubaiScheduled
14 – 18 Mar 2027€4,700€4,230until 22 Feb
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IstanbulScheduled
22 – 26 Mar 2027€5,300€4,770until 1 Mar
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28 Mar – 1 Apr 2027€4,800€4,320until 8 Mar
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LondonScheduled
6 – 10 Sept 2027€5,800€5,220until 16 Aug
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