January 19, 2026
Mine closure is a $100+ million project. So why isn’t it managed like one?
This week I had a meeting with a client who gets it. They understand that closure is a major project, they’re supportive of lifting maturity, and they’re pushing for stronger governance and delivery discipline. The challenge they’re wrestling with is a familiar one: how to communicate this reality through a corporate executive team where closure […]
November 22, 2025
JORC is no longer only just about tonnes and grade.
By: Andrew Hutton, Managing Director, IEMA For Australian mining companies, Competent Persons (CPs) are now operating at the junction of JORC, ESG, approvals, climate risk and mandatory reporting under the Corporations Act. That’s exactly where environmental and sustainability specialists – working in an aligned way with a deep understanding of the mining and resources sector […]
October 29, 2025
Fit-for-Purpose Corporate Mine Closure Standards: Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All in Modern Mining
By Andrew Hutton In today’s mining landscape, closure planning isn’t a box-ticking exercise. It’s a strategic, regulated, stakeholder-driven process that spans the full life of a mine. While many organisations rely on site-specific closure plans, there’s a foundational layer that often goes missing: a corporate-level Mine Closure Standard that is fit for purpose. Not generic. […]
September 19, 2025
Case Study | How IEMA Turned Climate Risk into a Faster Path to Relinquishment
By the IEMA – Integrating Sustainability, Business & Community A complex industrial closure was approaching the hard part, proving it would remain safe, stable, and compliant in an environment where climate change may move the goal posts in the long term future. IEMA – Integrating Sustainability, Business & Community was brought in to answer the […]
July 30, 2025
Mapping the Future of Mine Closure: How Spatial Intelligence and AI Are Rewiring the Way We Close Mines
By Andrew Hutton (based on work by Will Mitry and Erin Littlewood presented at the 2025 AusIMM LOM Conference, Brisbane. In an era of rising environmental expectations, regulatory scrutiny, and climate uncertainty, mine closure is no longer a back-end activity. It is a forward-thinking process that must embed resilience, accountability, and nature-positive outcomes from the […]
July 18, 2025
Cracking the Code on Mining Tenement Relinquishment – we’ve done it! – here’s some tips!
By Andrew Hutton – Managing Director, IEMA In the world of mining, extraction is only half the story. The other half – often less glamorous but just as critical – is what happens when the digging stops and how we can contemplate the transition of mine sites to a beneficial reuse that generates employment and […]