The United States recently triumphed in a highly regarded international survey assessing the leading mining jurisdictions in the world.
In the latest annual Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies, the US was put in the top position in a number of areas.
Most notably, the US took the top global spot in the policy perception index (PPI) after its median PPI score increased by seven points.
The US was also found to be the region with the most jurisdictions (four) in the top 10 followed by Canada (three), Australia (two), and Africa (one).
The top regional jurisdiction in the world for investment (based on the Investment Attractiveness Index) is Nevada, which moved up from third place in 2021, overtaking Western Australia, which slid back to second. Nevada has ranked consistently in the top 10 over the last 10 surveys.
Nevada, with the highest PPI score out of 100, also ranked first this year on the policy attractiveness question, moving up from sixth place in the previous version of the report.
The US also had Utah (fourth), Arizona (seventh), and Colorado (ninth) in the top 10 in the policy section of the survey.
Mixed results
Although the US ranked first overall, apart from Colorado, Montana, and Nevada, the Investment Attractiveness Index scores deteriorated for all US jurisdictions this year.
Despite this, all surveyed US states had a high percentage of positive responses regarding the level of confidence that respondents would be granted necessary permits.
All the respondents for Alaska and Nevada were either confident or highly confident that they would receive the necessary permits, making the United States the best performer in the confidence category.
Nevada’s positive view
Nevada, the jurisdiction most attractive to investors both in the Investment Attractiveness Index and in the policy ranking, increased its investment attractiveness score by 4.5 points. Similarly, Nevada increased its score by eight points in its policy perception index and ranked first out of the 62 jurisdictions and has ranked consistently in the top 10 over the last 10 surveys.
Respondents expressed decreased concern over the state’s regulatory duplication (-14 points), taxation regime (-14 points), uncertainty concerning protected areas (-12 points), and disputed land claims (12 points).
Colorado on the up
Colorado, which last year ranked 37th based solely on policy, this year ranked ninth due to a 17-point increase in its policy score. This improvement was reflected in Colorado’s climbing from 20 th (out of 84) in 2021 to 5 th (out of 62) in the 2022 Investment Attractiveness Index.
Miners expressed decreased concerns over Colorado’s uncertainty concerning protected areas (-52 points), uncertainty concerning environmental regulations (-50 points), uncertainty regarding the administration and enforcement of regulations (-45 points), and regulatory duplication (-45 points).
Arizona remains steady
This year, Arizona remained in the top 10 most attractive jurisdictions for investment. However, the state decreased two points in the Investment Attractiveness Index, dropping from the fifth spot (out of 84) to the seventh (out of 62). On its PPI score Arizona increased four points and improved from 12th (of 84) in 2021 to seventh (out of 62) in 2022.
Miners expressed decreased concern over regulatory duplication (-36 points), socioeconomic agreements and community development conditions (-26 points), and uncertainty concerning disputed land claims (-23 points).
However, Arizona dropped out of the top 10 most attractive jurisdictions in the world when considering only mineral potential and now ranks 11th out of 47 on this factor.
Alaska declines
Alaska’s score on the Investment Attractiveness Index decreased by five points, ranking the state 11th and dropping it out of the top 10 most attractive jurisdictions for investment. Despite increasing its policy score by over one point, Alaska ranked 13th (out of 62) in 2022, similar to its 2021 ranking.
Respondents expressed increased concern over the availability of skilled labour (+nine points), and decreased concern over uncertainty concerning environmental regulations (-17 points), uncertainty concerning regulatory duplication, (-13 points), quality of infrastructure (-13 points), and political stability (-13 points).
Idaho hit by labour concerns
Idaho dropped out of the top 10 most attractive jurisdictions in which to invest this year. The state, which last year ranked seventh (out of 84) due to its attractiveness for investment, this year dropped to the 28th spot (out of 62).
When considering policy alone, Idaho increased its PPI score by over three points and ranked 11th out of 62. Respondents expressed increased concerns over the availability of skilled labour (+18 points), infrastructure (+15 points), and uncertainty concerning protected areas (+ nine points).
However, miners expressed decreased concern over the uncertainty regarding the administration and enforcement of regulations (-42 points), legal system (-33 points), and disputed land claims (-25 points) in the state.
A fall for Utah
Utah’s score on the Investment Attractiveness Index decreased by over six points, dropping it from the 11th spot (out of 84) to 17th (out of 62). However, considering policy alone, Utah increased its score and ranked fourth (out of 62) after occupying the seventh spot (out of 84) in 2021.
None of the respondents expressed concern over the uncertainty concerning disputed land claims, environmental regulations, infrastructure, or regulatory duplication in the state.
California still at the bottom
California continues to be the least attractive jurisdiction in the US on the mining survey. Based on policy alone, California decreased its score by more than 19 points and now ranks 46th (of 62).
This year, all respondents for California expressed concerns over the administration, interpretation, and enforcement of existing regulations, and environmental regulations.
Additionally, miners expressed increased concern over the uncertainty regarding the administration and enforcement of regulation (+20 points), the uncertainty concerning disputed land claims (+17 points), and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies (+10 points).
Survey background
The Fraser Institute has conducted an annual survey of mining and exploration companies since 1997 to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulation affect exploration investment.
The Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies was sent electronically to approximately 1,966 explorations, development, and other mining-related companies around the world. The survey was conducted from 23rd August to 30th December 2022. The companies that participated in the survey reported exploration spending of US$1.90B in 2022.
The highly regarded survey is designed to create a ‘report card’ that governments can use to improve their mining-related public policy in order to attract investment in their mining sector to better their economic productivity and employment.
This year the survey included 62 jurisdictions from all continents except Antarctica. The 2022 questionnaire included several jurisdictions that had insufficient responses to enable them to be included in the report.
By way of comparison, the survey evaluated 84 jurisdictions in 2021, 77 in 2020, 76 in 2019, and 83 in 2018. The number of jurisdictions that can be included in the study tends to wax and wane as the mining sector grows or shrinks due to commodity prices and sectoral factors.
This year, as in other years, the index was weighed 40% by policy and 60% by mineral potential. These ratios are determined from a survey question that asks respondents to rate the relative importance of each factor. In most years, the split is nearly exactly 60% mineral and 40% policy. This year, the answer was 57.55% mineral potential and 42.45% policy.
