1088 5. ENSURING THAT THE VOICES OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE HEARD, INVOLVED IN DECISION MAKING AND DERIVE VALUE FROM CLOSURE REPURPOSING AND TRANSITIONS Mine closure is a fundamental part of the mining lifecycle. While planning and work to support a positive post-mine transition is undertaken across the mine life, many decisions before development and during approvals processes shape what is possible when mining ends. Information asymmetry, resourcing disparity and complex processes can limit the ability of Indigenous and regional communities to meaningfully participate in consultation, negotiation, decision making and agreement-making processes. It can also limit the ability of local businesses, Indigenous landholders and communities and others to identify, plan for and capitalize on commercial opportunities, including those involved in mine closure such as land rehabilitation. A common thread running through our studies of multistakeholder approaches is that the company rarely plays the lead role and there is a shift away from the traditional company-centric approach (ICMM, 2025). Contrary to the general inclination of (and to some extent, expectation placed on) mining companies to lead initiatives, there is a role for governments, NGOs and companies to develop independent, high quality and tailored information about mineral development, risks and opportunities and consultation and approval processes and ensure Indigenous and regional communities can access tailored, independent information to participate meaningfully in mine closure and critical minerals development processes. Many communities, including landholders, regional communities and Indigenous communities in key mining regions, have gained significant employment, training, business and income benefits during the most recent mining construction boom. However, while sustaining higher incomes than in comparable areas, the transition from mine construction to operations phase has often led to considerable economic challenges in some regions. While economic activity has or is expected to surge again – including activity associated with critical minerals development – many communities are also aware of the need to take concurrent steps to prepare for the future transitions away from mining (AusIMM, 2025b). To support this, our program has been working with several regions in Australia to develop evidence-based tools to enable them to prepare for future changes. Areas of focus include collaborative land use planning, repurposing engagement frameworks and regional cumulative effects assessment and management approaches. Our multistakeholder research is also building evidence for and understanding of the value of companies relinquishing control and adopting new roles as conveners, co-participants, financiers, advocates and capacity builders (ICMM, 2025). Collaborative planning approaches are fundamental to enabling transitions through the development of a shared vision for the future land use of mined land. In Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, we worked with people whose lives or livelihoods are associated with the region to articulate such a vision (Foran and Reeves, 2026). Undertaken across multiple years, the collaboration began with a focus on knowledge co-production between the study team and participants; for example, mine operators shared site-specific land suitability data; participants discussed their values; experts articulated visions for regional development. These components allowed a participatory multicriteria analysis of PMLU scenarios to occur. A key finding is that such knowledge co-production deepened collaborative dynamics, allowing synergistic gains in principled engagement and shared motivation. When these interests are not engaged in inclusive and meaningful conversations about repurposing, outcomes are not likely to be aligned with community needs and aspirations (Beer, 2021). Australian and international experience show that this can create ongoing liabilities for companies and government to manage unsustainable PMLU outcomes, community pushback, project delays and cost blowouts. Our research has identified transferable collaborative PMLU planning models, ideation processes in PMLU evaluation and specific frameworks for local community participation in repurposing decisions and pit lake transition planning. We acknowledge, however, that applying these models to other contexts may be challenging, especially in settings where there are high levels of distrust within communities and towards mining companies, and there is limited governance capacity. Regional cumulative effects assessment and management (RCEAM) approaches complement collaborative and participatory planning approaches by managing environmental, social, and economic change at a landscape scale. Our research has explored the use of RCEAM in mine closure and post mine
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