Saskatchewan edged one notch upwards to take first place worldwide while Manitoba soared from 19th to second in this year’s Fraser Institute survey of mining and exploration jurisdictions. Those two provinces pushed last year’s top performer, Western Australia, down to third place. Canada’s other top 10 spot went to Quebec, rising to sixth from eighth the year before. All continents but Antarctica came under scrutiny but Canadian, American, Australian and European locales monopolized the top 10.
Farther down the list, the strongest Canadian improvements were Newfoundland and Labrador, climbing to 16th from 25th, and the Northwest Territories, now 21st, previously 35th. Most disappointing were British Columbia (falling to 27th from 18th), Nunavut (31st from 23rd) and Alberta (47th from 34th).
Those findings come from the survey’s Investment Attractiveness Index, which combines two other indices—Policy Perception, a “report card” on government attitudes, and Best Practices Mineral Potential, concerning geological appeal. Representatives of 104 companies responded with their 2016 experiences in mind, giving a numerical rating to questions in several categories regarding their likelihood of investing in a particular jurisdiction. The previous year 109 companies responded.
Here’s the top 10 globally for overall investment attractiveness, with last year’s standings in parentheses:
1 Saskatchewan (2)
2 Manitoba (19)
3 Western Australia (1)
4 Nevada (3)
5 Finland (5)
6 Quebec (8)
7 Arizona (17)
8 Sweden (13)
9 Ireland (4)
10 Queensland (16)
Here are the Canadian runners-up:
15 Yukon (12)
16 Newfoundland and Labrador (25)
18 Ontario (15)
21 Northwest Territories (35)
27 British Columbia (18)
31 Nunavut (23)
40 New Brunswick (45)
47 Alberta (34)
52 Nova Scotia (59)
At least those provinces and territories steered far clear of the bottom 10, where Argentina figures prominently:
95 Mozambique (84)
96 Zimbabwe (98)
97 India (73)
98 Mendoza province, Argentina (101)
99 La Rioja province, Argentina (109)
100 Afghanistan (not available)
101 Chubut province, Argentina (104)
102 Venezuela (108)
103 Neuquen province, Argentina (93)
104 Jujuy province, Argentina (86)
“We believe that the survey captures, at least in broad strokes, the perceptions of those involved in both mining and the regulation of mining in the jurisdictions included in the survey,” stated authors Taylor Jackson and Kenneth P. Green.
Download the Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2016.
