efforts often focus on new technologies, automation, and expansion projects, a significant portion of global mineral supply depends on mature operations supported by industrial infrastructure that has been in service for decades. Process plants, equipment support structures, foundations, industrial buildings, and auxiliary facilities are increasingly operating beyond their original design assumptions. Higher throughput targets, evolving ore characteristics, and more demanding environmental conditions subject these assets to intensified degradation mechanisms, including corrosion, fatigue, cracking, settlement, and dynamic amplification effects. As infrastructure ages, uncertainty regarding structural performance increases, elevating not only safety exposure, which remains a non-negotiable priority in mining, but also operational, environmental, financial, and strategic risks. In many operations, structural integrity is still addressed through periodic inspections and corrective maintenance actions. However, without a structured governance framework, the ability to identify, assess, and control structural risks systematically across the asset lifecycle remains limited. Fragmented documentation, dispersed responsibilities, and weak integration with maintenance and capital planning processes reduce decision confidence and may compromise long-term performance objectives. Asset management principles emphasize that risk control and value realization must be aligned with organizational objectives and embedded across the full asset lifecycle (ISO 55000, 2024). In the context of mining infrastructure, this alignment requires transforming structural integrity from an isolated technical function into a risk-informed governance discipline integrated with planning, maintenance, and capital decision processes, extending from design and construction to operation, life extension, and eventual decommissioning or reuse. This paper proposes a Structural Integrity Management (SIM) framework conceived as a methodological model to support sustainable infrastructure performance through systematic structural risk management. The framework integrates lifecycle thinking, risk-based prioritization, assisted inspection technologies, digital traceability, and clearly defined organizational roles. Its objective is to reduce structural uncertainty, strengthen risk control, enable informed life-extension decisions, and enhance infrastructure resilience under evolving operational demands. By repositioning structural integrity management as a strategic mechanism for controlling risk and safeguarding long-term value, the proposed approach contributes to safer operations, improved capital efficiency, and responsible stewardship of mining infrastructure. 2. AGEING INFRASTRUCTURE AS A CONSTRAINT TO SUSTAINABLE MINING PERFORMANCE A substantial portion of global mineral production relies on industrial facilities
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