“Rather, it is an investment-risk guide that comes with the supporting data to start building a deeper-level risk assessment ahead of an investment decision."

Papua New Guinea has a mixed showing in the report. In ‘hard risk ratings' it features 17th worst in the world, but scores roughly midway in ‘perceived risk ratings'.

On the ‘investment risk index', PNG features two-thirds of the way down on the list, where Canada is at the top and Democratic Republic of Congo, Laos and Guinea are at the bottom.

PNG is dead-on midway in the ‘opportunity index', led by Canada and tailed, somewhat surprisingly, by Italy.

Its 130 pages contain the results in an easy-read format, in which countries are judged on the following criteria:

Legal: Considers the mining code's ability to protect investment;

Governance: Considers the ease at which miners should expect to set up and conduct business and how severe the challenges are likely to be related to corrupt bureaucracy;

Social: Considers the level of underlying political and social tension that could lead to unrest, protests, activism or violent conflict; and

Fiscal: Considers how punitive the tax structure is as well as the health of the underlying economic environment;

Infrastructure: Considers a jurisdiction's energy security and how well it is set up with mining-related transport infrastructure.

To obtain a copy of the report, follow this link