Saskatchewan, Canada, remains at the forefront, rising from third place in 2020 to second place in 2021.

The Fraser Institute's mining investment potential index considers both the potential of mineral resources and policy attractiveness (Policy Perception).

Nevada, USA, which ranked first in 2020, dropped to third last year, followed by Alaska, Arizona, Quebec, Idaho, Morocco, Yukon, and South Australia.

Inthe best global mining investment environmentranking,the United States occupies four positions, ranking first, with these regions being Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, and Idaho. Canada has three provinces in the top 10, namely Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Yukon. Australia has only two states in the top 10, which are Western Australia and South Australia.

As in previous years, the top-ranked investment environments are mostly in developed countries, where the mining industry has a long history, but this is not necessarily a good thing.The main issue is that the top-ranked countries and regions have few investment projects available, while some of the world's largest mineral deposits are often located in areas with operational risks.

Zimbabwe is rich in resources, including gold, platinum, diamonds, lithium, chromite, and coal, but its investment environment ranks low, followed by Spain, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mali.

Based on the time taken for permit approvals, this survey also ranked sub-indicators of the exploration system.

This year's report is not limited to Canada; it also collected data from countries and regions such as Australia, the USA, and Scandinavia, where mining, environmental, and other policies can be widely compared.

In most provinces and territories of Canada, most respondents stated that they could obtain various permits required for exploration within six months. However, there are significant differences between regions, especially compared to Manitoba, where 42% of respondents indicated that it takes 24 months or longer to obtain all necessary permits, while in British Columbia, most people reported that it only takes 3 to 6 months.

Elmira Aliakbari, director of the Fraser Institute's Centre for Natural Resources Research and co-author of the report, believes that: "Overall, mining executives still list protected areas, disputed land claims, and the uncertainty of environmental regulations as the main risks of investing in various provinces of Canada."Elmira Aliakbari"Policymakers in each province should understand that relying solely on mineral resource potential cannot attract investment," Aliakbari said.

“各省区的政策制定者应该明白，单靠矿产资源潜力是无法吸引投资的”，阿利亚克巴里称。

In this regard, Quebec performed the best, with 60% of respondents believing they could obtain exploration permits within two months. Compared to countries and regions such as the USA, Australia, and Scandinavia, the average time to obtain permits in Canadian provinces is shorter, generally not exceeding six months.