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The Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies 2023 annual global survey, provides rankings of jurisdictions worldwide in terms of their attractiveness for exploration and mining. This year's report includes data from 86 jurisdictions (up from 62 in 2022) and 293 respondents (up from 180 in 2022).
Territory highlights in the Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies 2023 include a global ranking of 8th for the headline Investment Attractiveness Index, 3rd for Best Practice Mineral Potential, and a return to one of the top-ranking Geological Databases.
The Investment Attractiveness Index is a combined index (policy perception and mineral potential) used as the survey's headline ranking. The NT ranked 8th globally (from 6th in 2022), indicating ongoing positive perceptions of the Territory as a mining investment destination. The NT remains in second place in Australia in the Investment Attractiveness Index, behind Western Australia, which dropped to fourth globally behind Utah, Nevada, and Saskatchewan. WA and the NT were followed by Queensland, which remained at 13th globally, and South Australia, which dropped from 9th to 19th. They were followed by NSW (30th), Tasmania (33rd), and Victoria (48th). NT's ranking in the Investment Attractiveness Index has been increasing since 2017.
Policy Perception measures the perception of government mining policies in a jurisdiction. NT and QLD were the only two Australian jurisdictions that experienced an improvement, with NT moving to 22nd (from 25th in 2022).
Best Practice Mineral Potential measures the perception of a jurisdiction's mineral potential irrespective of the policy environment. The NT achieved a ranking of 3rd globally (down from 1st last year), behind WA (1st) and Nevada (2nd). Qld ranked 12th (down from 6th), and SA remained at 19th. This strong result for a second year demonstrates that the Territory is considered one of the most geologically prospective jurisdictions globally.
Geological Database measures the perception of the quality and availability of geological data in terms of encouraging investment. The NT was equal first in the world with eight other jurisdictions, for which 100% of respondents said that the geological database encouraged or was not a disincentive for investment. The NT came second globally behind Finland for the proportion of respondents that stated that a jurisdiction's geological database encourages investment. The NT has historically ranked highly for this measure apart from an anomalously poor ranking of 32nd in 2022.
For more information, visit Fraser Institute or download the report Fraser Institute Survey for Mining 2023.