Mine Closure Policies in South America

This case study examines mine closure policies in South America, focusing on the transition from relying on international best practices to establishing national legislation. It details the frameworks of Chile and Peru, highlighting the critical role of financial assurance in preventing the state from inheriting liabilities for abandoned mines.

• Effective mine closure policy relies on early planning, consistent legal enforcement, and financial assurance to ensure funds are available for reclamation, preventing the public from absorbing the costs of abandoned mines.
• Financial assurance is designed to protect the public interest by ensuring a third party can close a mine if the operator is unable or unwilling, with ideal amounts fluctuating based on the level of site disturbance and reclamation progress.
• Climate change is a necessary consideration in closure planning because mine closure systems often have design lives spanning hundreds to thousands of years, and changing precipitation and temperature patterns can alter the risk profile of post-closure landforms.
• Chile and Peru are the only two South American countries to have established comprehensive national mine closure legislation requiring financial assurance, though both countries lack significant emphasis on post-mining land use and social aspects of closure.
• Chile's Law 20.551 requires mining companies with extraction over 10,000 tons per month to provide regularly updated closure plans and financial assurance, with the full amount typically built up within 15 years or two-thirds of the mine's useful life.
• Peru's mine closure framework requires detailed closure plans every five years and utilizes a roughly linear approach to building financial assurance based on the number of active mining years remaining.

APA

Weeks, B., & Slingerland, N. (2021). Mine Closure Policies in South America. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-en.pdf

Chicago

Weeks, Bjorn, and Neeltje Slingerland. Mine Closure Policies in South America. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weeks |first1=Bjorn |last2=Slingerland |first2=Neeltje |title=Mine Closure Policies in South America |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weeks2021mine, author = {Weeks, Bjorn and Slingerland, Neeltje}, title = {{Mine Closure Policies in South America}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-01/igf-case-study-mine-closure-south-america-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }