JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The perception of Australia’s mining policy framework improved in 2013, as Western Australia entered the top-ten rankings of Canadian think-tank Fraser Institute’s yearly survey of mining and exploration companies.

While the policy perception index (PPI) of each of Australia’s surveyed provinces and territories improved during the year under review, Western Australia emerged as the highest ranked jurisdiction in the country and was the only jurisdiction in Oceania to secure a top-ten ranking.

The PPI measured overall policy attractiveness by surveying 690 respondents across 112 jurisdictions from September to December.

The Fraser Institute’s 2013 survey of mining companies showed that Western Australia achieved a ranking of six out of 112 regions, with a score of 90.3.

This compared with the ranking of 15, with a score of 79.3, among the 96 jurisdictions reviewed during the 2012/13 survey.

The survey showed that Tasmania’s ratings improved the most, with its ranking rising from 49 in 2012/13 to 27 in 2013, reflecting improved perceptions for uncertainty concerning the administration, interpretation or enforcement of existing regulations; the availability of labour and skills; uncertainty regarding environmental regulations and socioeconomic agreements/community development conditions.

The Fraser Institute pointed out that South Australia’s ranking also improved from a ranking of 20 and a score of 75.5 in the prior year, to 11, with a score of 82.9, in 2013, while the Northern Territory reported a “notable” rise in its ranking and score, moving up to thirteenth place with a score of 81.8.

However, despite a marginal rise in its PPI score to 68.8, Victoria was the only Australian jurisdiction that dropped in its ranking, from 24 in 2012/13 to 33 in 2013, on the back of declining respondent ratings in the quality of the geological database, the level of security and the legal system.

While no nation scored first in all categories, Sweden boasted the highest PPI score of 95.2, followed by Finland, Alberta, Ireland, Wyoming, New Brunswick and Nevada.

Newfoundland and Labrador, also a new top-ten entrant, rose to ninth in the rankings from 18 in 2012/2013.

Western Australia also ranked high under the best practices mineral potential index, which rated a region’s attractiveness based on mining company executives’ perceptions of a jurisdiction’s geology.

Western Australia secured a second place ranking with a score of 0.82, up from the 2012/13 survey when it produced a score of 0.77 and ranked sixth against 96 countries.

Nevada followed closely, ranking third, also with a score of 0.82, while Alaska secured the top spot with a score of 0.83. Chile, British Columbia and Greenland, besides others, also ranked in the top ten.

Western Australia emerged as the top-rated jurisdiction for investment attractiveness this year with a score of 85.3 in the overall Investment Attractiveness Index – a combination of the best practices mineral potential index and the PPI. This compared with the fourth-place ranking in the prior year when it scored 78.

Nevada followed second with a score of 84.2, while Newfoundland and Labrador ranked third with a score of 81.3. Other top-ten jurisdictions included Sweden, Yukon and Greenland.