The annual survey, distributed to more than 3000 senior mining and oil and gas executives worldwide, rates countries across areas of risk such as sovereign risk, civil unrest, natural disasters and labour relations.

This year’s survey delivered some interesting results, especially within the top 10, as companies valued financial and sovereign risk higher than in previous years.

The United States took top spot with 10.6 points, up from sixth position last year, while Chile came in second with 11.4 points, up from 10th position in 2008, and Australia polled third with 12 points, up from fourth spot last year.

The rest of the top 10 were Botswana (last year third), New Zealand (last year 19th), Sweden (last year fifth), Brazil (last year 20th), Ghana (last year 22nd), Greenland (last year 13th) and Finland (last year first).

At the other end of the spectrum, the 10 high risk countries were Peru, Ukraine, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal, Burundi and Somalia.

“There is little doubt that the economic downturn has had a big effect on the survey results in 2009 while political uncertainty has again handicapped many countries,”RESOURCESTOCKS editor Ron Berryman said.

He said financial risk was a new category introduced into this year’s survey.

“This category measures the effect a region has on the ability to access funding, infrastructure, labour relations and land access.”

Despite the high ratings, green tape was clearly a global issue with the majority of the top 10 scoring three out of five in this category, with five being the riskiest.

AMEC manager advocacy and public affairs Darren Brown said environmental approval processes continued to be an issue faced by miners worldwide.

“The industry feels that environmental green tape encroaches on project development which is reflected in the survey results both here and overseas,” he said.

New South Wales headed the list of best performing Australian states coming in at fourth position, up from sixth position last year, while South Australia continued to perform well in fifth position despite falling from second position in 2008.

The Northern Territory slipped to 11th spot from fifth position in 2008, while mineral-rich Western Australia again fared poorly, taking out 14th position (last year 12th) though ahead of Victoria in 16th spot (last year 11th).

Countries which made the top 10 last year but lucked out in 2009 include the United Kingdom, Namibia and Canada.

This year’s survey included 70 jurisdictions, plus 12 Canadian provinces and Australia’s seven states and territories.

Full results of the survey can be found in the September-October issue of RESOURCESTOCKS.