diff --git a/gufe/mapping/atom_mapper.py b/gufe/mapping/atom_mapper.py
index c2844979..1bda99b6 100644
--- a/gufe/mapping/atom_mapper.py
+++ b/gufe/mapping/atom_mapper.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from .atom_mapping import AtomMapping
 
 
-class AtomMapper(GufeTokenizable):
+class AtomMapper[_Component: gufe.Component](GufeTokenizable):
     """A class for manufacturing mappings
 
     Implementations of this class can require an arbitrary and non-standardised
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class AtomMapper(GufeTokenizable):
     """
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
-    def suggest_mappings(self, A: gufe.Component, B: gufe.Component) -> Iterator[AtomMapping]:
+    def suggest_mappings(self, A: _Component, B: _Component) -> Iterator[AtomMapping]:
         """Suggests possible mappings between two Components
 
         Suggests zero or more :class:`.AtomMapping` objects, which are possible
diff --git a/gufe/mapping/componentmapping.py b/gufe/mapping/componentmapping.py
index 8c665a0a..bea4378d 100644
--- a/gufe/mapping/componentmapping.py
+++ b/gufe/mapping/componentmapping.py
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 # This code is part of gufe and is licensed under the MIT license.
 # For details, see https://github.com/OpenFreeEnergy/gufe
-import abc
 
 import gufe
 from gufe.tokenization import GufeTokenizable
 
 
-class ComponentMapping(GufeTokenizable, abc.ABC):
+class ComponentMapping(GufeTokenizable):
     """A relationship between two Components stating that they transform in some way
 
     For components that are atom-based is specialised to :class:`.AtomMapping`
diff --git a/gufe/mapping/ligandatommapper.py b/gufe/mapping/ligandatommapper.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fff53d64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gufe/mapping/ligandatommapper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import abc
+from typing import Iterator
+
+from gufe import SmallMoleculeComponent
+
+from .atom_mapper import AtomMapper
+from .ligandatommapping import LigandAtomMapping
+
+
+class LigandAtomMapper(AtomMapper):
+    """
+    Suggest atom mappings between two :class:`SmallMoleculeComponent` instances.
+
+    Subclasses will typically implement the ``_mappings_generator`` method,
+    which returns an Iterator of :class:`.LigandAtomMapping` suggestions.
+    """
+
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    def _mappings_generator(
+        self,
+        componentA: SmallMoleculeComponent,
+        componentB: SmallMoleculeComponent,
+    ) -> Iterator[dict[int, int]]:
+        """
+        Suggest mapping options for the input molecules.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        componentA, componentB : rdkit.Mol
+            the two molecules to create a mapping for
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        Iterator[dict[int, int]] :
+            an Iterator over proposed mappings from componentA to componentB
+        """
+        ...
+
+    def suggest_mappings(
+        self,
+        componentA: SmallMoleculeComponent,
+        componentB: SmallMoleculeComponent,
+    ) -> Iterator[LigandAtomMapping]:
+        """
+        Suggest :class:`.LigandAtomMapping` options for the input molecules.
+
+        Parameters
+        ---------
+        componentA, componentB : :class:`.SmallMoleculeComponent`
+            the two molecules to create a mapping for
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        Iterator[LigandAtomMapping] :
+            an Iterator over proposed mappings
+        """
+        # For this base class, implementation is redundant with
+        # _mappings_generator. However, we keep it separate so that abstract
+        # subclasses of this can customize suggest_mappings while always
+        # maintaining the consistency that concrete implementations must
+        # implement _mappings_generator.
+
+        for map_dct in self._mappings_generator(componentA, componentB):
+            yield LigandAtomMapping(componentA, componentB, map_dct)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index cf1471c5..fc72b5c7 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,15 +12,13 @@ readme = "README.md"
 license = "MIT"
 license-files = [ "LICENSE" ]
 authors = [ { name = "The OpenFE developers", email = "openfe@omsf.io" } ]
-requires-python = ">=3.10"
+requires-python = ">=3.12"
 
 classifiers = [
   "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
   "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
   "Operating System :: POSIX",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only",
-  "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
-  "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14",