The March 2025 update to mine closure regulations is intended to enhance the cost planning process and reinforce long-term environmental monitoring. Experts note that the main challenge is integrating closure from the very early design stage of projects.
April 2026 – In Peru, mine closure management has become an increasing challenge in the industry. According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), by early 2025 the country held approximately US $2.8 billion in financial guarantees to ensure compliance with mine closure plans—funds intended to cover environmental rehabilitation and post-closure monitoring once operations end.
The update to Law No. 28090 and its regulations promotes a more comprehensive approach to mine closure, encouraging more rigorous cost planning and sustained long-term environmental monitoring—even years after mining activity has ceased. “For years, mine closure was viewed as something to be addressed at the end of the project. Today, it’s clear that many decisions made early on have direct impacts on costs, environmental risks, and the overall feasibility of closure”, explains Giselle Vera, Mine Closure Lead at Ausenco.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Devoto, Director of Mine Closure North America at Ausenco, highlights that recent regulatory updates aim to strengthen the financial and environmental planning of mining projects. “The challenge is for companies to integrate mine closure into the project’s design phase and to consider from the outset the costs and monitoring activities that will continue after operations cease,” he notes.
New methodologies
One of the main challenges in planning mine closure is that in the early stages of a project, there is limited information about its final design. This makes it difficult to accurately estimate how much it will cost to close an operation and restore the environment.
In her study “Closure from Day One: Strategic Conceptual Cost Estimation for Sustainable Mine Closure”, Vera proposes methodologies that support preliminary closure cost estimates even when the project is still at the conceptual stage. The approach relies on reference information from similar projects, plant capacities, and engineering factors to estimate closure costs by components such as processing plants, tailings storage facilities, or mining infrastructure. In this way, it is possible to build an initial closure budget estimate and update it as the project advances and more technical information becomes available.
The methodology also organises closure activities into a clear process—from dismantling facilities to physical stability, revegetation, and post-closure monitoring.
This approach recognises that mine closure does not end when operations stop. In many cases, environmental monitoring and maintenance activities can extend for more than two decades, making it essential to have tools that facilitate cost planning from the earliest stages of the project.
This topic will be part of the agenda of the 2nd Congreso Cierre de Minas Perú, taking place on April 23 and 24. Ausenco will also participate in the discussion panel “How to Leave a Positive Legacy,” where Paolo Puggioni, leader of environmental mine closure, will take part. The panel will address comprehensive closure activities, planned from the design stage and aimed at generating environmental, social and economic value.
About Ausenco
Ausenco is a global engineering, consulting and project delivery firm built for the minerals and metals industry. With three decades of global experience, we work alongside clients to navigate complex challenges from first study to final closure—across every phase, on five continents. Deeply rooted in the minerals and metals industry, our people combine technical depth, hands-on expertise, and hard-earned insight to deliver practical, forward-thinking solutions that reduce risk and unlock value. (www.ausenco.com).