Finland ranked as #1 for global mining investment—Fraser Institute Survey – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – March 1, 2013)

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742 mineral exploration and development companies surveyed by Vancouver’s Fraser Institute say Indonesia is the worst place to do business out of 96 global jurisdictions.

RENO (MINEWEB) – The mining and exploration companies who responded to 2012/2013 Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies ranked Finland as the best place to do business, while Indonesia was deemed the worst place for mining and exploration companies.

Along with Finland, the top 10-ranked jurisdictions are Sweden, Alberta, New Brunswick, Wyoming, Ireland, Nevada, Yukon, and Norway. All were in the top 10 last year except for Utah and Norway.

The 10 least attractive jurisdictions for investment are (starting with the worst) Indonesia, Vietnam, DRC (Congo), Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Guatemala, Philippines, and Greece. All of these jurisdictions except DRC Congo, Greece and Zimbabwe were in the bottom 10 last year.

The jurisdiction deemed to have the best current mineral potential assuming current regulations and land use restrictions is Greenland, followed by Finland, Sweden, Nevada and Saskatchewan. The worst is Bolivia.

The jurisdiction believed to have the best policy/mineral potential–assuming no land use restrictions in place and assuming industry best practices–is Mongolia, followed by the Yukon, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Alaska. Ironically, Mongolia was also ranked as the mining jurisdiction most in need of improvement.

AFRICA

“Resource nationalism in Africa is a major concern,” said the president of a mining production company with more than $50 million in value. “Corruption needs to be controlled. Governments have to be more pro-active toward investors. Transparency is a must and could be a strong motivator for investors.”

Botswana was the highest-ranked jurisdiction on the continent, ranking 17th in the global survey. A manager employed by a mining producer with more than $50 million, noted, “Can get work done. Reasonable approval process. Not excessive regulations. Clearly pro-mining culture. Honest civil servants.”

Mali saw the largest decline its rank falling from 42nd to 79th. Mauritania saw the largest improvement in Africa, ranking 36th globally as a good mining jurisdiction.

When asked about South Africa, an exploration company vice president commented, “Both South Africa and Zimbabwe are driving social experiments not driven by logic and economy, but by ideology. In the absence of reason, primary industries become the cash cows to fund the un-fundable. The rise of oligarchs in both countries evidences decline.”

For the rest of this article, please go to the Mineweb.com website: http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-pdac?oid=180024&sn=Detail