Closure rehabilitation cost refers to the total estimated financial expenditure required to undertake all physical, ecological, and administrative restoration activities necessary to close and rehabilitate a mine site to an agreed standard. For bauxite, gold, iron ore, and diamond mines, this cost encompasses a broad range of line items including earthworks and landform recontouring, demolition and removal of processing facilities and infrastructure, tailings facility capping and stabilisation, acid mine drainage treatment, revegetation, environmental monitoring programmes, and post-closure maintenance over defined care-and-maintenance periods. Companies are typically required by government regulators to lodge financial assurances — such as bonds, bank guarantees, or trust fund contributions — equivalent to the estimated closure rehabilitation cost, ensuring that public funds are not required if a mining company becomes insolvent before completing rehabilitation. These cost estimates are subject to periodic review and must be updated as mine plans evolve, commodity prices fluctuate, and regulatory requirements change.
