The business of mine closure is global. Delivering against mine closure plans has proven difficult for the industry. As shown in the example provided in Figure 1, there is a small percentage of mines that are able to disclose the year in which they expect mining activities to formally close. Planning for closure requires careful consideration of a number of issues. As a planning principle, it is accepted that mine closure planning should be integrated into the systems and decision-making processes throughout the life of mine. The assumption is, that done well, this will provide an opportunity to demonstrate industrys commitment to sustainable development by incorporating physical and social aspects into the mine planning process. CITATION:Svobodova, K, Littleboy, A, Owen, J, Edraki, M and Higgins, R, 2019. Thinking beyond closure: toward a mine closure database, in Proceedings 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, pp 7273 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).