Towards A Cmsi-Latam: Regionalizing Global Mining Standards For Credible And Scalable Implementation Bettina Reyna Ugarriza Abstract Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) will be a relevant supplier of transition minerals, but it will do so under persistent inequality and governance gaps that are often most visible in remote mining territories. These conditions are further shaped by security risks and illegal economies, including illicit gold flows with direct implications for responsible business conduct, due diligence and traceability. In parallel, global voluntary frameworks—including the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI), the ICMM Mining Principles and the IFC Performance Standards—have raised expectations for responsible mining. Yet, verifiable implementation across LAC remains uneven and frequently concentrated among a subset of “early movers”, with variable quality of evidence and assurance across countries and sites. This paper proposes CMSI-LATAM: a regional governance and assurance layer to operationalize CMSI in LAC while preserving global consistency and comparability. CMSI-LATAM would (i) issue regional interpretation guidance to clarify evidence thresholds for context-critical topics (heterogeneous institutional capacity, Indigenous Peoples, informality and risk management); (ii) accredit independent auditors with regional competencies and apply quality controls; (iii) publish results and time-bound improvement plans under a clear status scheme (e.g., conforming/conditional/suspended); (iv) operate an external grievance and appeals mechanism; and (v) link performance to market signals (responsible procurement and sustainability-linked finance), complemented by a data and benchmarking hub and a capacity-building program for companies, suppliers, regulators and communities. A phased roadmap is presented, starting with design and pilots in selected jurisdictions and scaling through mutual recognition with existing schemes when equivalence is demonstrable. By creating a credible regional layer between global standards and site-level practice, CMSI-LATAM can improve comparability, reduce reputational and compliance risks, and contribute to delivering minerals from LAC faster, smarter and more responsible. Keywords Mining governance; regional standards; assurance systems; CMSI; social performance; Latin America. 1. INTRODUCTION Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a key supplier of minerals and metals required for the energy transition. However, delivering these minerals “faster, smarter and more responsible” requires more than technical efficiency: it requires trust, verifiable performance and sufficiently predictable governance conditions in the jurisdictions where mining operates. Over the last 191
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