The industry faces an uphill battle to produce the minerals needed for the transition to a low-carbon economy, at a time when investment risks globally are rising.

Mining investment risk increased globally in 2023, with companies facing growing legal and regulatory headwinds, according to Mining Journal Intelligence’s (MJI) World Risk Report 2023 featuring MineHutte ratings.

The global average Investment Risk Index (IRI) score – the key measure of overall risk – declined to 58.9 out of 100 from 59.8 last year (lower scores mean higher risk). The average is the worst in the World Risk Report’s seven-year history and corresponds to a B rating, defined as moderate risk (upper).

The World Risk Report 2023 is a comprehensive evaluation of mining investment risk, featuring assessments of 121 jurisdictions globally, up from 109 last year. IRI scores are based on 11 ‘Hard Risk’ metrics, from established risk-related indices, and corresponding ‘Perceived Risk’ scores from the World Risk Survey 2023, in which more than 600 mining professionals rated jurisdictions they are familiar with.

Risk is assessed across five categories – Legal, Governance, Social, Fiscal, and Infrastructure – with Hard Risk making up 80% of the category scores and Perceived Risk 20%.