The Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI) is a collaboration between The Copper Mark, ICMM, Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and World Gold Council (WGC) to consolidate their different voluntary responsible mining standards into one global standard, accessible to any company with a commitment to mine responsibly. The proposed standard would be overseen by an independent, multi-stakeholder Board and underpinned by a robust assurance and audit process.
Responsible mining standards play an important role in giving stakeholders confidence that metals and minerals are being produced responsibly. Over the last 20 years we have seen a plethora of these mining standards being developed by a range of actors, including the initiative partners.
This initiative responds to the clear signal the partners have received from investors, civil society, customers, policy makers and mining companies that the existing standards landscape has become too complex, and inconsistent for stakeholders seeking assurances that metals and minerals are being responsibly produced, and too challenging and distracting for operators.
Our vision is for a less complex standards landscape that serves the needs of all stakeholders, sets a high bar for responsible mining, and drives continuous improvement across the entire mining and metals industry.
Our goal is to retain and build on the best attributes of these four existing standards. The new standard will be developed with the support of the Stakeholder and Industry Advisory Groups, and subsequently through engagement with a wider group of stakeholders through a global public consultation process.
Inspired by ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice, the draft standard, assurance process and governance model will be shared for two rounds of public consultation, the first of which will last for two months. This provides an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to share their feedback. The four partners will also seek input and advice through their own established stakeholder networks. This will help us to develop a standard, governance model and assurance process that meet the needs of a wide range of stakeholders and has the potential for driving impact at scale.
The four partners’ ambition is for the new standard to be implemented by all of its members and participants. This means it would have the widest coverage of any voluntary mining standard to date and would be implemented by at least 86 mining companies with around 700 operations in almost 60 countries worldwide.
Find out more about the development process, who’s involved, and how you can get involved here.
