PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Western Australia has been labelled as the world’s second most attractive jurisdiction of mining investment, following Nevada, in the Fraser Institute’s latest Annual Survey of Mining Companies.

Saskatchewan came in third, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador, Colorado, and the Northern Territory, with Arizona, Quebec, South Australia and Botswana rounding out the top ten.

Queensland was ranked 13th out of the 62 jurisdictions considered, with New South Wales coming in at 23rd, Victoria at 47th and Tasmania at 50th. The survey noted that considering both policy and mineral potential, Australia continues to be the most attractive region in the world for mining investment.

Once again, the least-attractive jurisdiction for mining investment is Zimbabwe and, in fact, of the 10 least-attractive jurisdictions in the world, eight are in Africa.

“A sound regulatory regime coupled with competitive taxes make a jurisdiction attractive to investors,” said the Fraser Institute’s Center for Natural Resources Studies director Elmira Aliakbari.

“Policymakers across the globe should understand that mineral deposits alone are not enough to attract investment.”

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has welcomed the ranking, but said that despite the results, the nation should not rest on its laurels.

“There are signs that investors are being deterred by poor government processes and policies,” MCA CEO Tania Constable said on Friday.

“Australia’s geological potential will not be able to continue to counterbalance this trend to higher royalties and policy processes that delay approvals and investment decisions. Australia’s vulnerability to competition from resource-rich economies will only grow as they seek to seize the opportunity to supply the minerals and metals needed to achieve global net zero emissions.

“To attract a significant proportion of this investment that will create tens of thousands of new regional jobs, business growth and investment should be placed at the centre of the government’s policymaking.

“Current policy settings are putting at risk investment in mining,” Constable said.

“Workplace relations, tax, environment, climate change and energy policies that impose unexpected costs on the mining industry threaten the capital investment that underpins its contribution to the economy and the global efforts to decarbonise.

“Australia needs more investment along the entire mining value chain to boost the economy’s performance and play its part in the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) on Friday said that the survey was a valuable indicator of the perceptions of the industry of the performance and supportiveness of governments and regulatory bodies for the mining industry.

“Despite the reduced sample size, the survey reflects the view that, overall, Australia continues to be seen as a highly desirable place for investment,” said Amec CEO Warren Pearce.

"All in all, these results reflect well on Australia’s performance, with most jurisdictions either maintaining or improving their position in the overall rating of investment attractiveness. And while these results are encouraging, there is always room for further improvements here in Australia.

“Many such initiatives are underway around Australia, and we will continue to work with governments to deliver a welcoming investment environment for our sector, to drive this investment,” Pearce said.

“However, there are, equally, many concerning policy and regulatory developments here in Australia, that have the potential to negatively impact our reputation as a safe investment jurisdiction.

“These include the massive increase in Queensland coal royalties, greater uncertainty around tax increases for petroleum and mining sectors at a Commonwealth level and increasing levels of environment and heritage regulation across the board.

“Australian governments must continue to take notice, and work with industry, to deliver greater certainty and efficiency to support the mining and mineral exploration industry,” said Pearce.