In recent years, ‘sustainable mining’ projects have been promoted as a means of extracting minerals that respects the aspirations of local peoples and is ecologically responsible. However, in light of new international mining regulations, the effect of such projects remains difficult to evaluate. In this paper, we attempt to provide a framework for analyzing ‘sustainable mining’ by critically applying Elinor Ostrom’s socialecological systems (SES) framework. Thus, our objective is to compare cases from Arizona, USA and Peru, by following the same mining company. In so doing, we analyze in effect the application of the company’s model and examine its management strategy, while taking into account the diversity of the protagonists involved in extractive activities. The modeling effort proposed here, while building on a critical approach of Ostrom’