Western Australia no longer holds the top global spot for investment attractiveness, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual global survey of mining and exploration companies for 2020.

The state fell to fourth position, leaving Nevada (United States) to take the mantle of most attractive jurisdiction in the world for mining investment, followed by Arizona (2nd) and Saskatchewan (3rd).

The state also fell from the fifth to 11th position when it came to the survey’s Policy Perception Index (PPI).

All Australian states except New South Wales and South Australia fell in investment attractiveness since last year’s results.

However, the report said “all Australian jurisdictions saw improvements in their PPI scores this year over 2019”. It also said that “considering both policy and mineral potential, Australia is the most attractive region in the world for mining investment”.

Victoria was the Australian jurisdiction with the highest increase in its PPI score (+10 points) since last year.

“When evaluating Victoria, miners expressed decreased concern about the uncertainty regarding the administration, interpretation, or enforcement of existing regulations (-33 points), environmental regulations (-27 points), and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies (-27 points),” the report stated.

“Tasmania, which also saw a 9-point increase in its PPI score, improved its ranking by going from 33rd (out of 76) in 2019 to 25th (out of 77) in 2020. Respondents expressed decreased concerns over the uncertainty regarding the administration, interpretation, or enforcement of existing regulations (-59 points), political stability (-36 points), and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies (-30 points).

“New South Wales continues to be Australia’s lowest ranked jurisdiction when considering policy factors alone. New South Wales saw its PPI score increase by a little over 5 points this year, but its rank decreased from 46th (of 76) in 2019 to 49th (of 77) in 2020. This year, miners expressed increased concern over protected areas (+14 points) and decreased concern over the administration and enforcement of existing regulations (-10 points). However, regulatory factors continue to hinder New South Wales’s competitiveness as 89 and 81 percent of respondents pointed to environmental regulations and regulatory duplications and inconsistencies, respectively, as factors deterring investment.”

The PPI measures the overall policy attractiveness, factoring uncertainty concerning the administration of current regulations, environmental regulations, regulatory
duplication, the legal system and taxation regime, uncertainty concerning protected areas and disputed land claims, infrastructure, socioeconomic and community development conditions, trade barriers, political stability, labor regulations, quality of the geological database, security, and labor and skills availability.

Fraser Institute sent the survey to 2200 individuals across the industry between August and November last year, assessing how regional prosperity and public policy had affected exploration investment. A total of 12.5 per cent of recipients responded to the survey, representing 77 jurisdictions.

“A sound regulatory regime coupled with competitive taxes make a jurisdiction
attractive to investors,” said Jairo Yunis, Fraser Institute policy analyst and report coauthor.

You can read the report here.

The Fraser Institute describes itself as an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank.