JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been ranked the top two most attractive jurisdictions for mining investment in the world, according to the Fraser Institute’s ‘Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2016’.

“Competitive tax regimes, efficient permitting procedures and certainty surrounding environmental regulations and land claims have vaulted Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the top in the eyes of miners looking to invest,” said Fraser Institute energy and natural resources studies senior director and survey co-author Kenneth Green.

This year’s survey rated 104 jurisdictions around the world based on geological attractiveness for minerals and metals, as well as policy attractiveness.

Australia was knocked off the top spot, to end as the third best global mining jurisdiction in 2016.

Quebec, meanwhile, was ranked third in Canada and sixth globally – the only other Canadian jurisdiction in the global top ten for overall investment attractiveness.

British Columbia and Ontario, however, fell by nine and three spots respectively to twenty-seventh and eighteenth position globally.

“While other jurisdictions in Canada and around the world have improved their attractiveness to investors, Ontario and British Columbia fell this year because these provinces continue to be hampered by uncertainty surrounding land claims,” commented Fraser Institute senior policy analyst and survey co-author Taylor Jackson.

The Fraser Institute noted that Canada’s overall investment attractiveness had improved in 2016.

Meanwhile, the US state of Nevada ranked fourth in the global rankings, while Arizona ranked seventh.

South American jurisdictions, however, did not fare well in 2016, with Chile's ranking tumbling to thirty-ninth, from eleventh in 2015, while five Argentinean provinces placed in the bottom ten jurisdictions globally.

Venezuela was ranked the third least attractive global mining jurisdiction in 2016.