Every mine will close! Charting a profitable course through mine operations to acceptable mine completion requires that risk and opportunity management planning of the mine life begin as early as possible in the life cycle._x000D_
Management targets and metrics are required to identify and navigate the course to successful mine completion based on economic, social and environmental criteria. This paper outlines the application of The Metrics Navigator principles to the life cycle of a mine site._x000D_
In general, metrics are required to make key strategic ideas apparent, transforming those ideas into a manageable set of quantitative measures that guide communication and decision making. For example, the chemical industry has established metrics that focus on the life cycle impacts of its products and eco-efficiency of their processes. Other industry sectors have focused attention on workplace and community well-being outcomes. These management metrics are necessarily organisation-specific, aligned to stakeholders' expectations and the strategic outcomes sought, as well as the cause-and-effect relationships underlying key issues._x000D_
Recently, the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), a consortium of multi-national companies, developed The Metrics Navigator. The guidance document provides a structured process for assessing and developing metrics for key environmental, social, and economic issues based on business and stakeholder perspectives. It incorporates best practices learned from the chemical and other industry sectors and has since been applied to develop metrics that guide life cycle strategies._x000D_
The paper examines how the life cycle of a mine site could benefit from experiences in other industry sectors where sustainability metrics have guided strategy. It considers the potential application of The Metrics Navigator process to the life cycle of a hypothetical Australian mine site using the processes that have been successful in other industry sectors._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:Latham, M, Jones, H and Tanzil, D, 2009. Applying the Metrics Navigator to establish strategic indicators for mining, in Proceedings SDIMI 2009 - Sustainable Development Indicators in the Minerals Industry, pp 313-322 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).