In the past century, mining has been the primary industry in South Africa and has been a key driver of economic development in the country. This industry has however seen a steady decline in production levels due to imbalance between new resource discovery and the rate of resource extraction.  In this paper we review the impact of life cycle phased approach to mine closure planning based on a multi-stakeholder participation in objective setting.

First the systems thinking concepts as it is applicable to social problem solving are reviewed. System dynamic modelling as a tool to harness and encourage multi-stakeholder group objective setting and role of meaningful indicators in ensuring sustainability of social initiatives is then addressed. We then discuss the concept of mine closure planning based on current practice in South Africa particularly in the diamond mining industry. The outcome of the study that was conducted into creating a business case framework for post mine closure opportunities in the diamond industry, is also reviewed. We then present a scenario depicting how using a system thinking approach and system dynamic models could stimulate group objective and goal setting that is specified by the framework.