The international mining industry has ranked New Brunswick as the world’s most attractive jurisdiction for exploration and development, unseating last year’s winner Alberta which fell to third place behind Finland, according to the Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies: 2011/2012.
The survey is based on opinions from mining executives representing 802 exploration and development companies regarding the investment climate of 93 jurisdictions worldwide.
From those places New Brunswick emerged as a “superstar” up from its 23rd spot last year as respondents applauded the province’s efficient legal system and consistency in enforcing existing environmental regulations, said Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute’s vice-president of international policy research and survey coordinator, in a prepared statement.
McMahon added New Brunswick’s competitive tax regime and reduced uncertainty surrounding disputed land claims also helped it snatch first place. A spot that Quebec had from 2007-2010, before falling to fourth last year, and now to fifth as miners continue to express concerns over the proposed changes to the province’s mining act and royalty increases.
This year Manitoba’s reputation took a hit, tumbling to 20th place from ninth as executives noted that the province’s mishandling of First Nations consultations led to delays in processing permits and licenses.
While Saskatchewan slipped from third to sixth place, the Yukon moved up five spots to tenth to become the fifth Canadian jurisdiction on the top 10 list.
Worldwide the best-ranked jurisdictions are New Brunswick, Finland, Alberta, Wyoming, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Sweden, Nevada, Ireland and the Yukon.
Seven of the same places made the list last year. Newcomers this year include New Brunswick, Ireland (which climbed to ninth from 16th) and the Yukon, while last year’s top ten finalists Manitoba, Utah (down to 21st from sixth) and Chile (fell to 18th to eight) dropped off the list altogether.
This year’s worst-ranked jurisdictions for mining investments are Vietnam, Indonesia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, India, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guatemala and Honduras.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Zimbabwe, which made the bottom 10 last year managed to rank slightly better.
The report also noted that miners are somewhat bearish on future commodity prices, saying they expect the same or reduced prices for silver, copper, diamonds, coal, zinc, nickel, potash and platinum. However, gold was the only exception, with a majority of executives predicting higher prices for the yellow metal.
The pessimistic mood was also reflected in the respondents’ investment plans. This year, 68 percent of those surveyed said they expect to spend more on exploration, compared to the 82 percent last year.
In 2011, the companies that participated in the survey reported spending US$6.3 billion on exploration, up from the US$4.5 billion spent in 2010.
“The key to establishing a positive investment climate is for governments to have a clear, sensible vision for mining policy and to stick to it,” McMahon said.
what mines do they have in alberta?????? do they at the fraser institute consider oil and gas as mining?????