Permitting delays depress US mining sector, while corruption plagues Russia and Kazakhstan
INVEZZ, The Investors’ Portal
For the fourth year in a row, Australia ranks as the best place for mining investment in the world. In a freshly released survey by leading US minerals industry advisory group Behre Dolbear Australia scored 0.7 percent lower than in 2012, as its rising dollar currency was marked as a concern. Rated highly on account of its economic and political stability, Australia was followed by Canada, with Chile, Brazil and Mexico rounding out the top five. At the other end of this year’s ranking, the five lowest scoring mining countries are Russia and Mozambique, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea and Kazakhstan.
The 150 mining professionals polled by Behre Dolbear for its annual assessment of the global mining industry — “2013 Ranking of Countries for Mining Investment: Where Not to Invest” — assessed the 25 countries considered in this year’s report based on seven criteria. The United States and Papua New Guinea were ranked as the countries with the most numerous permitting delays – a main indicator of the time it takes to bring a new mine online. The countries with the fewest mining permitting delays, in order of ranking, are Australia, Tanzania, Mexico, Chile and Columbia.