Fraser Institute ranks Quebec tops for third year running

The Fraser Institute’s annual survey of mining companies has ranked Quebec the most attractive jurisdiction for exploration and development for the third year in a row.

Stable government policies that lower the risk of long-term mining projects are what make the Canadian province so appealing, according to the Fraser Institute’s vice-president of international policy research and the survey’s coordinator, Fred McMahon.

By contrast, the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia fell in popularity this year, with Ontario plummeting to 22nd place overall, down from its finish last year in tenth spot, and British Columbia tumbling to 38th, a 14-spot drop from its 24th ranking in 2009.

Canadian provinces took up six of the top 10 spots. New Brunswick finished second overall, an advance of four places over 2009. Alberta remained in fourth place with Saskatchewan ranking sixth, up three spots over the previous year.

Newfoundland & Labrador ranked eighth, a decrease from fifth last year, while Manitoba ranked ninth overall. In 2007, Manitoba was ranked first overall.

Internationally Finland claimed third place overall. Others in the top ten included Nevada in fifth place, Chile, the only jurisdiction outside North America that has consistently been in the top 10, ranked seventh; and South Australia tenth.

Other highly ranked non-Canadian jurisdictions included Sweden (12th overall), Wyoming (13th), Utah (15th), and Alaska (18th). Botswana was the highest-ranked nation in Africa in 21st place followed by Mali and Ghana in 27th and 34th, respectively.

At the bottom of the pack were Venezuela, Ecuador, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mongolia, Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala, and California.

In the category of mineral potential assuming current regulations and land use restrictions, the top ten were Nevada, Chile, Quebec, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Saskatchewan, Botswana, Northern Territory, Alaska and Mali.

From a purely mineral perspective, the five most appealing jurisdictions are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Alaska, Quebec, Nevada, and Chile. The least appealing jurisdictions are Ireland, Spain, Honduras, Washington, and India.

The 670 mining executives and managers who were polled for this year’s survey also expressed greater optimism about the industry. Nearly twice as many mining companies said they will increase exploration budgets as those who said budgets will remain the same or decrease.

Eighty-three percent of those surveyed also forecast that mining prices will rise. Twenty percent of those said they expect “substantial increases.”

The majority of respondents also expect metal prices to increase over the next two years, with 64% forecasting a moderate rise and 20% predicting substantial increases.

When asked about price peaks for eight mining products, 20% or more said they expected peaks for copper and gold; about 10% expected new peaks for silver, nickel, platinum, zinc, and coal; and 3% predicted new peaks for diamonds.

The Fraser Institute’s survey of mining companies includes 72 jurisdictions worldwide except Antarctica.

Participating companies reported exploration spending of US$2.9 billion in 2009 and US$3.6 billion in 2008.