Resources-rich Western Australia has been picked the most attractive region for mining investment in 2019, the latest annual survey of mining executives released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute shows.
The Aussie state, which is home to almost 130 export-oriented mining projects and hundreds of smaller quarries and mines, producing over 50 different commodities, had ranked second in 2018.
Finland moved into second place this year, after ranking 17th in 2018.
Finland, another country usually located among the top
destination, moved into second place this year, after ranking 17th in 2018.
United States’ Nevada moved down two spots from first in
2018 to third in 2019.
Rounding out the top 10 are Alaska, Portugal (fifth in 2019,
versus 46th in 2018), South Australia, Ireland, Idaho, Arizona and Sweden.
The ranking takes both mineral and policy perception into
consideration as well as permit times. This year’s is based on 263 responses
covering 76 jurisdictions.
When it comes to the ten least attractive jurisdictions for investment, the mining executives interviewed chose Tanzania, Chubut (Argentina), La Rioja (Argentina), Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Zambia, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali and Nicaragua in that order.
In terms of geographical region, Europe emerged this year as
the most attractive mining investment destination, showing a 20% increase in
interest from investors, followed by Australia and Canada.
The Maple Leaf country had held the top spot in 2017 and 2018, but its relative investment attractiveness last year fell by almost 11%.