Most Mining Friendly Places In The World To Invest
When it comes to investing in junior mining companies, there is no shortage of companies to choose from. Just in Canadian listed companies alone there are over 2000 that are all itching for investor dollars. When it comes time to invest though there is always the big question of which company has the best upside or ROI for your investment. As I have mentioned in other articles on this website that in 2016 the most important things to look at is how much cash the company has on hand, the management of the company and the project. Taking all this into consideration today I am going to talk about which jurisdictions are the best or should I say the safest for investing.
In what seems to be a world gone mad with with wars or screwed up govenments one needs to take into consideration some of these facts. Africa with it's abundance of gold and other metals has and continues to see riots, war and governments run by dictators. Government policy can change on whim and what was thought about as being as good investment can turn sour very quickly. I have seen and read so many horror stories of gold mines half way through construction or producing gold when either bandits or military or government decree steps in and takes over. Classic examples were gold company Crystallex International Las Cristinas gold project in Venezuela seized by government greed. Another is Gabriel Resources Rosia Montana gold and silver project in Romania sitting idle because of non local greenies that feel the mine will kill the enviroment. These are just examples of what not to invest in. These two examples are also highly publicized projects but there are countless other projects that are getting squashed all the time. Its the classic, "Someone else gets the gold mine while the investor gets the shaft." That is why looking for companies with projects in mining friendly jursidictions is a must.
I like to keep things simple and familiar so I have a tendancy to look at miners that are exploring in Canada. Canada is a big country and there is mining of some kind from one coast to the other. Some provinces are a bit more strict and others have first nation issues but all in all pretty much most mining projects seem to get the green light. Yukon and the NWT seem to have a lot of outstanding issues on seeing projects through in a timely manner as they are becoming more bureaucratic with too many levels of government and red tape. In fact the Yukon even though it has the worlds best mineral deposits, it's way down the list for being so called mining friendly. This is too bad because at this time, there is only one mine active in the entire territory and it is suppose to shut down once stock piled ore has been processed.
Another place that I like to look at juniors is Nevada. Nevada got started as a mining state and still is to this day. It's world famous for it's Carlin Trend and there seems to be quite a few small junior doing work there. One of those companies is Gold Standard Ventures which I have written about in the mining stock talk section of the website. Alaska offers the investor great opportunities also and it too has a long history of mining.
Australia has a lot of mineral exploration and a government that seems to be cooperative and also competative. There are some very big mines in that country and a lot of exploration going on. In fact in 2015 some of the best returns on stocks were Australian listed junior mining companies. With close access to Asian markets Australia is a good place to invest.
Most of the Americas to me is a stay away from place. It seems that whenever you have a country of poor people you have a recipe for disaster. For some reason once a company wants to develope a mine, locals seem that they are somehow entitled. Yes I agree that locals should be given jobs but I see no reason why a company needs to spend fortunes on local villages. Mining companies are in the mining business and not the day care or good samaritan business. That's the governments job to take care of it's people not corporations. This is one of the issues that seem to crop up in places like Cental America and parts of South America and it's one of the reasons I avoid investing in these plays.
Chile is also a country that seems to welcome exploration dollars. I know of some small independant miners who went there to placer mine and have had no problems. We don't see many small juniors in that country though but in Argentina there is some renewed interest. This could be due to the new government (late 2015) that is wanting foreign dollars spent in the country.
Ecuador has president that seems to be pro mining although there seems to be a lot of news articles talking about protests and rioting. The markets are tough enough and an investor doesn't need any of news of unrest or protests. It's bad enough with shorters in the market place.
Mexico is also towards the top of the list. Some very successful juniors became miners in Mexico. Companies like first Majestic have numerous operations in that country. Mexico offers a stable work force and has a relatively stable government although I have heard some local governments can get a little bit authoritative. This coud be part of the old bribe system that was in place for many years.
So there you have a quick and short list of mining friendly places to invest in. Canada tops my list, followed by Nevada, Alaska and Australia and the Mexico. I like to research the country for what ever information I can and then I ask myself, "would I move and live in that country?" If the answer is "no" I will most likely shy away from investing in a company that is doing work there.
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