Planning for Hermosa Closure Early

Preparing a mine closure plan at this relatively early stage in the mining lifecycle has provided the opportunity to integrate mine closure planning, risk assessment and financial provision into the overall development plan of a greenfield project. It has also enabled the mine closure plan to be available to support the regulatory approvals process for the project.

The mine closure plan considers aspects including historical and proposed future (post closure) land use, corporate and legal frameworks relevant to closure, the environmental setting, the socio-economic setting, closure methodology, closure monitoring, and risks and opportunities.

The mine closure plan has been submitted to relevant regulatory agencies as part of the approvals process for Hermosa. It may also be made available for public comment at the regulators’ discretion.

As is the case with all of our operations, the Hermosa mine closure plan will be regularly updated as the project progresses and as our approach to closure planning for Hermosa matures.

In February 2024, South32 announced the final investment approval for the Taylor deposit, the first development at our Hermosa project.