Lisheen had been expected to close in 2013 but the success of mineral recovery saw that extended by 2 years.
The mine is set to close fully in October 2015 having been in operation since 1997.
The company is now seeking 38 voluntary redundancies from its 360 strong workforce by March of next year.
However there are still hopes of new ore discoveries. Local Councillor John Hogan says there are still avenues to be explored including part of the nearby Galmoy mine and also a reported ore deposit found in Culahill.
Meanwhile Vedanta hope to leave a positive legacy of their 17 years on the site with a major remediation plan is already in place for Lisheen.
While admitting that there were issues at first local Councillor Hogan says the relationship between the mine operators and the local community has generally been positive.
