From underground economy to surface tensions: Stakeholders’ perspectives on mine closures in Gümüşhane

Mine closures are not merely the end of an economic cycle but complex processes that produce long-term social, environmental, and psychosocial consequences. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of Social Impact Assessment (SIA), studies often underemphasize the closure phase and its social repercussions. This study investigates those social impacts in Gümüşhane, Türkiye, a historically mining-dependent region, through the lens of stakeholder theory and a qualitative fieldwork approach. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 participants including mine workers, company representatives, public officials, NGOs, media, and local community members, the study identifies significant transformations in six domains: economy, employment and education, land use, demographics, environment and health, and human rights. Findings reveal that mine closures led to income loss, unemployment, migration, weakening of social cohesion, environmental degradation, and violations of labor and participation rights. The exclusion of local stakeholders from closure planning exacerbated distrust and social fragmentation. Providing a nuanced understanding of the social dynamics surrounding mine closure, study contributes to the growing literature calling for more inclusive, just, and sustainable closure processes, and emphasizes the urgency of incorporating SIA as a mandatory and comprehensive practice including not only the opening but also the closure and post-closure stages of mining.