Australia remains the destination of choice globally among mining investors – but the nation continues to struggle with risk, according to the MiningNews.net Research Report 2023 (MNN 2023).

The report, produced by Mining Journal Intelligence (MJI), a research arm of Mining Journal and MiningNews.net publisher Aspermont, reveals Australia was the top pick jurisdiction in the MJI’s Investor Sentiment Survey, with a massive 73% of respondents targeting new investments in the country in 2023, up from 47% in the previous year’s poll. 

The MNN 2023 report provides a multi-pronged tool to help mining professionals and investors identify opportunities and risks in Australia and nearby geographies, taking a deep dive into Australia/Oceania in four core areas: development opportunities, C-suite priorities, risk, and financing.

Findings are sourced across MJI’s suite of global research reports, updated and refocused to shed light on the situation in the region today.

While a hit with investors, Australia/Oceania’s performance on the risk front was markedly weaker. The region scored an adjusted average of 64 in the MJI’s Investment Risk Index (IRI), equivalent to a BB rating, unchanged on the previous year.
The region lagged far behind global leaders Canada (78), the US (73), and Central America and the Caribbean (69).

The IRI is an overall measure of risk, calculated using 10 ‘hard’ risk measures across five categories (Legal, Governance, Social, Infrastructure, and Fiscal), along with responses to the MJI’s annual World Risk Survey.

The MNN 2023 report also shows that the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) remained the dominant exchange for mining capital raisings in 2022. The ASX saw 48 initial public offerings (IPOs) launched by mining companies for combined proceeds of US$354 million, out of 85 offerings and US$976 million globally. The exchange also saw 463 secondary raisings launched by mining companies, for combined proceeds of US$5.09 billion, 42% of the global total of US$12.11 billion.