The current evolutions of the participatory paradigm in South American mining have imposed dialogue mechanisms as a new standard for the non-state regulation of mining territories. Intrinsically linked to good governance frameworks, participation is both singular in the forms it takes on a local level and normative in its global scope. This paper aims to highlight the importance of territorial experimentation in the standardization and dissemination of global standards on different scales, through their reporting by international institutions. Working from the emblematic case of the Quellaveco copper mining project in southern Peru, we examine the multi-scale impacts of a dialogue experiment conducted between 2011 and 2012, as well as the local, national and international discourses that have tried to demonstrate its success in resolving socio-environmental conflict. We argue that through these discourses, the Quellaveco experience has been standardized until it was adopted as a new standard for mining governance. This marks a paradigm shift in the socio-environmental regulation of mining activity, from a state-centric approach to a multi- stakeholder vision.