8 September 2025, 12:00 BST: Partners of the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI) – The Copper Mark, the International Council on Metals and Mining (ICMM), Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the World Gold Council (WGC) – are pleased to announce the publication of the Governance Model. The Governance Model will be adopted by The Copper Mark as it evolves to become the Secretariat for the Standard. The Copper Mark’s own Governance Model, including its current independent Board and Advisory Council, will evolve to the 17-member Board of Directors. A public, open call for applications for Board appointments will follow and the evolution should be completed before the finalisation of the Standard.
Once finalised, existing members of ICMM, World Gold Council and MAC, and participants of The Copper Mark are expected to transition and adopt the Standard.
This broad adoption would give the Standard the widest coverage of any voluntary mining standard to date, with implementation anticipated to include almost 100 mining companies across approximately 600 facilities in around 60 countries over time.
The evolution of the Governance Model has been guided by the rich feedback received during public consultation, as well as extensive input from our Stakeholder and Industry Advisory Groups.
A report outlining how feedback from the first public consultation on the Governance Model has been addressed has been published alongside the Governance Model.
The Governance Model
The Governance Model will comprise a 17-member Board of Directors, led by an Independent Chair. It is designed to balance participation across companies and stakeholders affected by mining or value chain activities. Consensus-seeking decision-making processes afford equal and strong protections to all groups on the Board. Decisions that require voting must be carried by a 70% majority, by 3 members from each of the 4 groups.
The Board will comprise:
- Four Directors from mining companies – or their representatives – implementing the Standard. These Directors will be drawn from the memberships of ICMM, MAC, and WGC (one per organisation), with one additional Director selected by the International Copper Association (ICA).
- Four Directors from mining-affected stakeholders and rights holders. This will include one Director representing Indigenous Peoples, one from labour, one focused on social/human rights, and one from an environmental perspective, with a blend of local, regional and global representation.
- Four Directors from value chain companies committed to responsible minerals and metals value chains. This will include consumer-facing companies such as OEMs; standalone recyclers, smelters or refiners; and component manufacturers.
- Four Directors from non-commercial value chain stakeholders committed to responsible minerals and metals value chains – including (i) international NGOs, multi-lateral organisations, multi-stakeholder initiatives, and academics with expertise in responsible value chains; and (ii) stakeholders directly affected by midstream and downstream value chain activities who reflect social, community, environmental or labour concerns linked to the midstream and downstream.
Changes since public consultation
Important changes have been made to how the initial Board will be formed following public consultation, most notably the removal of the CMSI Partners from the process of selecting the Independent Chair. The Independent Chair will now be selected through a sub-committee drawn from the Stakeholder and Industry Advisory Groups; the Stakeholder Advisory Group will also play a central role in selecting other Board members through nomination sub-committees. That selection will be preceded by a public, open call for applications or nominations in a way that encourages broad participation across stakeholders and geographies.
Additional revisions have also been made to clarify the commitment to balanced representation of value-chain and mining interests, as well as commercial and non-commercial interests. These changes aim to ensure the model is inclusive of the perspectives of all stakeholders and rights-holders.
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About the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative
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 four different responsible mining standards into one global Standard and independent Board with multi-stakeholder participation. The 13 vision is for a sustainable society, enabled by the responsible production, sourcing, and recycling of metals and minerals. Through this Initiative, we are aiming to simplify the current mining standards landscape and promote continual improvement of environmental, social and governance practices along individual metals’ value chains.
About the four partner organisations
The Copper Mark
The Copper Mark is the leading independent assurance framework that promotes responsible practices in the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc industries, focusing on environmental protection, social responsibility, and corporate governance. The Copper Mark uses a rigorous site-level assessment process to independently verify whether individual sites have responsible production practices. 38% of globally mined copper is currently produced by Copper Mark-assured sites.
ICMM
ICMM stands for mining with principles. We bring together a third of the global metals and mining industry, along with key partners to drive leadership, action and innovation for sustainable development, ultimately delivering a positive contribution to society. Through collaboration, ICMM member companies set the standard for responsibly produced minerals and metals in a safe, just and sustainable world.
Mining Association of Canada
The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members account for most of Canada’s production of base and precious metals, uranium, diamonds, metallurgical coal and mined oil sands, and are actively engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi fabrication. Please visit www.mining.ca.
The World Gold Council
World Gold Council is a membership organisation that champions the role gold plays as a strategic asset, shaping the future of a responsible and accessible gold supply chain. Their team of experts builds understanding of the use case and possibilities of gold through research, analysis, commentary, and insights. They drive industry progress, shaping policy and setting the standards for a perpetual and sustainable gold market.
Media contacts (representing the four partner organisations)
Issued by R&A Strategic Communications on behalf of the CMSI: Charmane Russell +27 82 372 5816 or charmane@rasc.co.za; Katherine Bester +27 83 441 0671 or katherineb@rasc.co.za
ICMM – Tom Horsman – tom.horsman@icmm.com
MAC – Paul Hébert – phebert@mining.ca
World Gold Council – Steph Cadman – stephanie.cadman@gold.org
