Nevada is the most attractive jurisdiction in the world for mining investment, followed by Western Australia and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, according to the yearly mining survey of Canadian policy think-tank Fraser Institute.
Nevada, which Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow says is the “Witwatersrand of the 1970s”, has moved up from third place in 2017, and dethroned Saskatchewan as the world’s best mining address.
North American jurisdictions dominated the top ten this year, with four Canadian provinces – Saskatchewan (3), Quebec (4), Yukon (9) and Northwest Territories (10) – and four US states – Nevada (1), Alaska (5), Utah (7) and Arizona (8) – featuring at the top.
The only non-North American jurisdictions in the top ten are Western Australia and Chile, which both improved their rankings.
Western Australia moved to second place after ranking fifth in the previous year, and Chile advanced to the sixth position in overall investment attractiveness, from eight last year.
Chile’s neighbour, Peru, also continued to improve, ranking fourteenth overall this year, from nineteenth last year and twenty-eight the year before.
The Australian jurisdictions of Victoria and Western Australia received higher scores on policy attractiveness this year, with respondents expressing decreased concern about political instability and regulatory uncertainty.
As a whole, Canada is once again the most attractive region for mining investment in the world followed by Australia, the US, Europe, Oceania, Latin America, Africa, and lastly, Argentina.
On policy attractiveness alone, Saskatchewan is the top ranked jurisdiction globally. However, Ontario dropped from seventh last year, to twentieth this year, as investors are giving the province low marks for regulatory uncertainty and concerns about disputed land claims. Investors also perceived Ontario’s mineral potential as less attractive this year.
“The evidence is clear—mineral deposits alone are not enough to attract precious commodity investment dollars,” commented Fraser Institute policy analyst Ashley Stedman.
“A sound regulatory regime coupled with competitive fiscal policies is key to making a jurisdiction attractive in the eyes of mining investors.”
Meanwhile, Venezuela is now the least attractive investment destination, replacing Guatemala. Also in the bottom ten are Neuquen, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, China, Ethiopia, Dominican Republic, La Rioja and Bolivia.
The mining survey—now in its twenty-first year—is a report card on government policy decisions that either attract or scare away investors from around the world. This year’s survey of mining executives ranks 83 jurisdictions around the world based on their geologic attractiveness for minerals and metals and the extent that government policies encourage or deter exploration and investment.