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Mine closure, formalization of small miners and the mercury ban in Colombia: the 2026 closure rules, closure guarantees, the formalization bank of areas and temporary environmental licences

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Changing

Since July 2026 every mining title holder in construction or exploitation must carry a mine closure plan inside its works programme, covering progressive, temporary, early and final closure, and large and medium miners must update it every five years. The decree gives the government until July 2027 to regulate the financial guarantees that back closure plans; small miners get gradual technical closure and a reconversion programme instead. Informal and traditional miners can formalize through a new bank of areas (August 2026) and a temporary environmental licence, while mercury has been banned in mining since the five year deadline set by Ley 1658 de 2013, which matters for any gold supply chain buyer.

Key facts

Mine closure plan update cycle for large and medium scale miners	5 yearsDecreto 1073 de 2015 art. 2.2.5.14.2.4 (Decreto 742 de 2026), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Deadline to issue rules on mine closure financial guarantees, from July 2026	12 monthsDecreto 1073 de 2015 art. 2.2.5.14.2.2.4.2 (Decreto 742 de 2026), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum period to eradicate mercury in mining, from July 2013	5 yearsLey 1658 de 2013 art. 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Time to file the environmental impact study for a temporary formalization licence	3 monthsLey 1955 de 2019 art. 22, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Mine closure covers the administrative, technical, operational, social, labour, environmental and post closure measures, including provisioning funds or posting guarantees. It applies to mining title holders and temporary authorization holders in construction and assembly or exploitation, and to miners in legalization and formalization processes. The closure types are progressive (alongside operations in areas no longer needed), temporary (during a suspension), early (when the project definitively cannot continue, by authority decision or at the holder's request), final (end of the project's life) and gradual technical closure for small miners and miners in formalization.Decreto 1073 de 2015, Book 2, Part 2, Title V, Chapter 14, added by Decreto 742 de 2026 art. 1, Art. 2.2.5.14.1.1, 2.2.5.14.1.2, 2.2.5.14.1.3 and 2.2.5.14.1.4, 2026-07-10 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Decreto 742 de 9 July 2026 (Diario Oficial 53.549, 10 July 2026) added Chapter 14 on mine closure to Title V, Part 2, Book 2 of Decreto 1073 de 2015, in force the day after publication.

2. Title holders and temporary authorization holders must file the Mine Closure Plan as part of the Programa de Trabajos y Obras (PTO), or the applicable technical instrument, with the mining authority and the environmental authority. Small miners filing the differential PTO under Ley 2250 de 2022 attach a closure plan with progressive and final closure measures. The plan must be updated every five years for large and medium scale miners, when the approved technical and operating conditions change, when environmental impacts beyond those approved arise, or when the authorities require it; temporary or early closure triggers an update when it occurs. The rules also reach holders whose PTO or environmental impact study was filed but not yet approved, and approved holders when they update or modify those instruments.Decreto 1073 de 2015 as added by Decreto 742 de 2026 art. 1, Art. 2.2.5.14.2.3, 2.2.5.14.2.4 and 2.2.5.14.4.1, 2026-07-10 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Decreto 742 de 9 July 2026 (Diario Oficial 53.549, 10 July 2026) added Chapter 14 on mine closure to Title V, Part 2, Book 2 of Decreto 1073 de 2015, in force the day after publication.

3. The Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Agencia Nacional de Minería and the Ministry of Environment must, within twelve months of the decree's entry into force, regulate the financial guarantees that secure closure plan obligations: guarantee types for medium and large mining, provisioning for small mining, admissible instruments (trusts, bank guarantees, deposits, liquid guarantees), the calculation of the present value of the guarantee and its progressive build up, maximum deadlines, periodic updating and the requirements for issuers. Guarantees must be sufficient, timely, enforceable and proportional to the risk of the approved plan. With entry into force on 11 July 2026, the deadline falls in July 2027.Decreto 1073 de 2015 as added by Decreto 742 de 2026 art. 1, Art. 2.2.5.14.2.2.4.2 and par. 1, 2026-07-10 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Decreto 742 de 9 July 2026 (Diario Oficial 53.549, 10 July 2026) added Chapter 14 on mine closure to Title V, Part 2, Book 2 of Decreto 1073 de 2015, in force the day after publication.

4. Small scale title holders with an environmental instrument, miners covered by legalization and formalization (including beneficiaries of the Plan Único de Legalización y Formalización Minera) and subsistence miners that cannot continue for social, economic or environmental reasons may request gradual technical closure with a gradual closure plan and move to other productive activities. A Productive Reconversion Programme for mining activities, under Ley 2250 de 2022 art. 20, covers subsistence miners, small scale holders with an environmental instrument, miners in formalization and informal miners in transition who cannot continue.Decreto 1073 de 2015 as added by Decreto 742 de 2026 and Decreto 708 de 2026, Art. 2.2.5.14.1.1.1.1; art. 2.2.5.13.1.1.1 and 2.2.5.13.1.1.2, 2026-07-08 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Decreto 708 de 7 July 2026 (Diario Oficial 53.547, 8 July 2026) created the Productive Reconversion Programme as Chapter 13 of Title V of Decreto 1073 de 2015.

5. A Bank of Areas for Mining Formalization, run by the mining authority, holds areas for traditional miners and small scale informal miners working without a registered title, who have no pending applications or titles and either already work in a banked area or must be relocated for environmental or social restrictions. The areas are granted through the existing formalization mechanisms; the earlier general bank of areas article was repealed.Decreto 1073 de 2015 as added by Decreto 983 de 2026 art. 1, Art. 2.2.5.4.5.1, 2.2.5.4.5.4 and 2.2.5.4.5.5; art. 2.2.5.4.3.8 repealed by Decreto 983 de 2026 art. 3, 2026-08-05 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Decreto 983 de 4 August 2026 (Diario Oficial 53.578, 5 August 2026) created the Bank of Areas for Mining Formalization and repealed art. 2.2.5.4.3.8.

6. Miners seeking a title through formalization of traditional mining, special reserve areas or formalization subcontracts must obtain a temporary environmental licence for formalization: they file the environmental impact study within three months of the act that authorizes the subcontract, approves the returned areas or declares the reserve area, and the environmental authority rules on viability within 30 days. The temporary licence lasts for the formalization process plus two months after the concession is granted or the subcontract is registered, within which the holder must apply for the full environmental licence. Uncured breaches lead the mining authority to reject or revoke the formalization.Ley 1955 de 2019, Art. 22, 2019-05-25 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. The use of mercury must be eradicated throughout Colombia in all industrial and productive processes within ten years, and in mining within a maximum of five years, of the law; the ministries of Environment, Mines and Energy, Health and Labour set the regulatory measures for safe reduction and elimination.Ley 1658 de 2013, Art. 3, 2013-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Type	When it applies
Progressive	During operations, in areas no longer needed by the project
Temporary	During a suspension for technical, economic, legal or contingency reasons
Early	When the project in construction or exploitation definitively cannot continue
Final	At the end of the project's useful life
Gradual technical	Small miners with an environmental instrument and miners in legalization or formalization moving to other activities

Mine closure types under Decreto 1073 de 2015 art. 2.2.5.14.1.4 (Decreto 742 de 2026)

Step by step

Map which closure obligations bite now: if a PTO or environmental impact study is pending, or an approved one is being modified, the closure plan rules already apply.
Build the closure plan into the PTO with progressive, temporary, early and final closure measures and its cost estimate, and file it with both the mining and environmental authorities.
Diary a five year update for large and medium operations, plus event driven updates when operations change or new impacts arise.
Track the financial guarantee regulation due by July 2027 and model a guarantee or trust funded progressively against the plan's present value cost.
For gold offtake or processing, verify that suppliers are titled or in a formal formalization route and do not use mercury.

Common traps

The closure decree sets the obligation now but leaves the guarantee mechanics to a later regulation due by July 2027; budgeting nothing for closure security in the meantime is a planning error.
Temporary or early closure is not informal: it requires updating the plan when the event occurs.
A temporary formalization licence lapses two months after the title is granted unless the full environmental licence has been applied for.
Buying gold from miners outside a title or formalization route, or using mercury, exposes a buyer to supply chain and criminal risk well beyond the mining code.

Sources

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