Western Australia takes top spot in Fraser Institute study

Saskatchewan is the most attractive mining jurisdiction in Canada again, and globally the second best place for investments, according to the Fraser Institute’s Annual survey of mining companies: 2015.

The survey’s authors Taylor Jackson and Kenneth Green used 449 responses to evaluate 109 jurisdictions worldwide on their mineral potential and policy factors, such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty.

Based on the survey’s Investment Attractiveness Index, Western Australia is the world’s most attractive mining jurisdiction for investments, moving up four spots from 2014.

The index weighs each jurisdiction’s mineral policies and endowment on a 40% to 60% basis to determine overall attractiveness.

Uranium and potash-rich Saskatchewan remained second in ranking. Nevada fell to third, after Western Australia, a big iron ore player, displaced it as the most attractive spot in 2015. The Republic of Ireland jumped 10 notches to fourth.

Also in the top 10 are Finland, Alaska, Northern Territory, Quebec, Utah and South Australia.

Saskatchewan and Quebec are the two Canadian jurisdictions to remain in the top 10. Quebec moved from tenth place in 2014 to eighth place in 2015. Over the same time, Manitoba dropped 14 spots to 19th. Newfoundland & Labrador tumbled from eighth place to 25th, and Yukon fell six notches to rank 12th overall.

Meanwhile, Ontario and B.C. gained ground, moving up eight and 11 positions, to rank at 15th and 18th.

The Canadian jurisdictions that declined the most are New Brunswick, down 26 spots to 45th place, and the Northwest Territories, sinking 20 spots to 35th place.

The least attractive Canadian jurisdiction again is Nova Scotia, ranking at 59th, down 10 from 2014. (The survey included all Canadian provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island.)

Canada has a regional median investment activeness score of 74.8, slightly down from the previous year. This makes it the second most attractive region in 2015, down from the top spot in 2014, which Australia took in this year’s survey.

The Argentine province of La Rioja ranks as the least attractive, replacing Venezuela, now the second worst place in the survey for mining investments.

Argentine provinces Chubut, Mendoza and Rio Negro are also in the bottom 10, along with Honduras, Greece, Solomon Islands, Guinea and Kenya.

The survey’s Policy Perception Index (PPI) measured each jurisdiction’s perceived policies towards mining investments, with the Republic of Ireland coming on top for the third year in a row. Wyoming came in second, moving up from ninth place in 2014.

The other top-10 ranked places based on policy alone are Sweden, Saskatchewan, Finland, Nevada, Alberta, Western Australia, New Brunswick and Portugal.

For Canadian jurisdictions, Saskatchewan moved up a notch to fourth place, Alberta remained seventh and New Brunswick retreated six spots to rank at ninth.

Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia fell out of the top 10-PPI rankings in 2015, moving down nine positions to 15th and 17th.

Ontario advanced five spots to 31st, while B.C. jumped 13 positions to come in at 41st. This indicates that some of the uncertainties around policies in both provinces have faded. The survey, however, notes the policy areas that continue to affect B.C. are uncertainty about disputed land claims and protected areas.

The Northwest Territories saw its PPI ranking decline the most amongst its Canadian peers, moving from 47th in 2014 to 58th in 2015. This makes it the lowest ranked Canadian jurisdiction based on policy. The decrease reflects respondents lowering their ratings on such policy factors as the availability of labour and skills, and increasing it for regulatory duplication and inconsistencies.

Despite this, Canada has the highest regional median PPI score of 86.4, and ranks as the world’s top country for mining investments based on policy. The U.S. comes in second, followed by Australia.

Worldwide, the least attractive jurisdictions based on PPI rankings are (beginning with the worst): Venezuela, Myanmar, La Rioja, Zimbabwe, Chubut, Neuquen, Niger, Kyrgyzstan, Rio Negro and Honduras.

Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe and Venezuela were in the bottom 10 in 2014. Four of the 10 lowest ranked PPI places in 2015 were Argentine provinces — La Rioja, Chubut, Neuquen and Rio Negro.

The authors explain that the above jurisdictions have major concerns about security, political stability, trade barriers and legal systems.