World's Top Mining Jurisdictions Revealed as New Global Investment Rankings Reshape Exploration Landscape

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1. Disclosure for the quote from the John Newell article published on February 11, 2026

1. For the quoted article (published on February 11, 2026), the Company has paid Street Smart, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports, US$2,500.
2. Author Certification and Compensation: [John Newell of John Newell and Associates] was retained and compensated as an independent contractor by Street Smart for writing this article. Mr. Newell holds a Chartered Investment Management (CIM) designation (2015) and a  U.S. Portfolio Manager designation (2015). The recommendations and opinions expressed in this content reflect the personal, independent, and objective views of the author regarding any and all of the companies discussed. No part of the compensation received by the author was, is, or will be directly or indirectly tied to the specific recommendations or views expressed.

John Newell Disclaimer

As always it is important to note that investing in precious metals like silver carries risks, and market conditions can change violently with shock and awe tactics, that we have seen over the past 20 years. Before making any investment decisions, it's advisable consult with a financial advisor if needed. Also the practice of conducting thorough research and to consider your investment goals and risk tolerance.

2. Ownership and Share Structure Information

The information listed above was updated on the date this article was published and was compiled from information from the company and various other data providers.

The Fraser Institute's Annual Survey of Mining Companies is one of the most closely watched global benchmarks for evaluating mining investment environments. Published annually since 1997, the survey assesses how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation, regulation, and political conditions influence exploration investment decisions.

The survey is conducted each year between early August and late November. In the 2025 edition, it was distributed electronically to more than 2,300 managers and senior executives involved in mining exploration, development, and related activities worldwide. The companies that participated reported billions of dollars in exploration spending, reflecting the perspectives of decision-makers responsible for allocating capital in the sector.

Each year, the report also provides context about respondents, including their positions within their companies and the types of firms they represent. This helps illustrate the perspective behind the results, as many responses come from senior leadership roles.

The questionnaire asks respondents to evaluate how various policy factors influence investment decisions in jurisdictions with which they are familiar. These factors include regulatory uncertainty, environmental regulations, taxation regimes, legal systems, infrastructure, political stability, labor conditions, security risks, and the quality of geological data.

To measure overall attractiveness, the survey uses the Investment Attractiveness Index, which combines two main components. The Best Practices Mineral Potential Index evaluates geological attractiveness assuming an ideal regulatory environment, while the Policy Perception Index measures how government policies influence investment attitudes. The combined index reflects industry priorities by weighting mineral potential at roughly 60% and policy factors at about 40%.

The survey serves as a global "report card" on mining investment climates. Governments often use the results to assess the competitiveness of their policies, while companies and investors rely on the rankings to evaluate jurisdictional risk and potential investment opportunities.

Top-Ranked Mining Jurisdictions

According to the most recent report, Nevada ranked as the most attractive jurisdiction globally based on the Investment Attractiveness Index. Ontario placed second and was the highest-ranked Canadian jurisdiction, while Saskatchewan moved into third place.

The rest of the top ten included South Australia, Arizona, Western Australia, Botswana, Norway, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. The report noted that the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe each had multiple jurisdictions represented among the highest rankings.

Giant Mining Advances Majuba Hill in Nevada

Giant Mining Corp. (CSE: BFG; OTC:BFGFF; FWB:YW5) recently announced that it has engaged Big Sky Exploration, LLC to conduct its 2026 maiden core diamond drilling program at the Majuba Hill Copper Deposit in Pershing County, Nevada. The planned program includes up to 10,000 feet of drilling in two phases and will build on more than 89,000 feet of historical drilling completed at the property. The company stated that the work will be guided by its updated geological model and prior exploration results, with input from RESPEC Engineering. President and CEO David Greenway said the engagement positions the company to advance systematic exploration at Majuba Hill, where mineralization has been associated with breccia-hosted copper and silver zones with anomalous gold. Giant reported that funding has been secured for the upcoming phase of drilling.

Giant also announced that it has received an independent technical recommendations report from RESPEC Company, LLC covering its Majuba Hill Copper-Silver-Gold Project in Pershing County, Nevada. The study evaluated the company's updated geological interpretation and outlined exploration recommendations intended to guide continued advancement of the project.

The company stated that the findings will help direct a planned drill campaign of up to 10,000 feet that was previously announced. According to Giant Mining, the report emphasized a discovery-focused exploration strategy and highlighted the importance of recognizing tourmaline breccia pipe-hosted copper mineralization as a key control in targeting higher-grade zones.

President and CEO David Greenway said the RESPEC analysis represents a significant technical development for the company and improves its understanding of the mineralization at Majuba Hill. The report identified tourmaline breccia bodies as an important structural control on copper mineralization and suggested that higher-grade copper and silver zones may occur within distinct breccia domains. It also recommended reassessing historical drilling, surface sampling, and geophysical datasets within the framework of the updated geological model before executing systematic drilling. Future development scenarios, the report noted, will depend on defining additional high-grade breccia zones and understanding their distribution.

Majuba Hill spans approximately 9,684 acres in Nevada, where roughly 89,395 feet of drilling have been completed historically. The company indicated that funding has been secured to support the next phase of drilling activity at the property.

¹On February 11, technical analyst John Newell described Giant Mining as a U.S.-focused copper exploration company with Majuba Hill as its primary asset. He characterized the project as a large porphyry-style copper system in Pershing County and noted that historic underground production at the site dates back to the early 1900s, including copper, silver, gold, and tin. Newell wrote that the company has advanced the project over several years through drilling, geophysical surveys, and geological modeling while operating in what he described as a mining-friendly jurisdiction. He concluded that the stock remains a "Speculative Buy" at CA$0.30.

Ongoing exploration work at Majuba Hill has included diamond drilling initiated in 2024. Two holes, MHB-30 and MHB-31, were completed to depths of 800 feet and 1,086 feet respectively. The company reported that both holes were logged on site and sampled at Giant’s secured core facility. Additional work has included new access road construction, earlier core and reverse circulation drilling programs, soil sampling, and multiple geophysical surveys. Drone magnetic surveys totaled 322-line kilometers, while induced polarization and resistivity surveys added 49.5-line kilometers of data. Geological integration of these datasets indicated that sulfide copper porphyry mineralization trends to the northeast and that oxide copper mineralization remains open in multiple directions.

Majuba Hill is located in Nevada, which ranks as the top jurisdiction globally in the Fraser Institute's most recent mining investment survey, placing the project within one of the highest-rated mining environments worldwide.

²Roughly 15.1% of Giant Mining's shares are held by insiders, while the rest are owned by retail investors.  The company's market capitalization is approximately CA$16.13 million. Giant has 102.5 million shares outstanding and a 52-week range of US$0.0880 and US$0. 0.3279.

Dryden Gold Expands Exploration Across Ontario District

Dryden Gold Corp. (DRY:TSXV; DRYGF:OTCQX; X7W:FSE) is advancing exploration within Ontario, one of the world's top-ranked mining jurisdictions in the Fraser Institute's latest investment survey. The company reported results from a regional gold-in-till exploration campaign that identified multiple gold anomalies across its large land package in the Dryden district.

The company said the survey outlined a broad corridor of gold anomalies along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone and highlighted particularly strong results at its Hyndman project. Based on these findings, Dryden expanded its land position at Hyndman by staking more than 5,200 additional hectares.

Dryden reported that thousands of samples were collected during a first-pass regional survey designed to identify new priority targets. The work also outlined several prospective areas with limited historical exploration, supporting the company's strategy of pursuing district-scale discovery potential.

Chief Executive Officer Trey Wasser said the results represented an important step in defining the broader potential of the company's land package, particularly at Hyndman, where sampling revealed anomalies stronger and more extensive than expected.

Dryden also released full results from Drill Hole DGR-031, known as Gap Hole 2, at its Gold Rock project in Ontario. The company reported that the hole intersected 15 gold-mineralized structures across a 600-meter width, including mineralization at the Big Master and Pearl zones. At Big Master, the hole returned 2.64 grams per tonne gold over 2.50 meters, including 10.80 g/t over 0.50 meters, marking the deepest drilling completed by the company at that target. Additional holes intersected high-grade gold intervals at the Treasure structure, and the company said the results support the continuity of multiple parallel mineralized zones along strike. Chief Executive Officer Trey Wasser stated that the drilling expanded the scale of Gold Rock and demonstrated depth potential at Big Master, with further drilling planned as the 2026 campaign advances.

The company also reported that its U.S. listing was upgraded to the OTCQX Market in February 2026, which it said was intended to improve trading access for U.S. investors.

Independent commentary has also highlighted Dryden Gold's expanding exploration scope. In a January letter, Chen Lin of What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling? noted continued support from CGAU and ongoing financing activity, stating the stock could present an entry opportunity for investors bullish on the sector.

On February 4, analysts at The Gold Advisor reported that recent drilling at the Pearl zone confirmed significant mineralization in the footwall of the Elora shear, adding a new structural layer to the Gold Rock Target Area. The work included several drill holes along a defined strike length, with results that analysts said reinforced a pattern of multiple stacked mineralized structures.

In a February 13 equity research report, Couloir Capital's Ron Wortel reaffirmed a Buy rating with a CA$1.00 target price. He cited strong drilling results, new high-grade discoveries in parallel structures, and additional financing to support an expanded exploration program. The report also noted that the company's fully funded 2026 exploration budget of approximately CA$11.0 million is expected to support about 32,000 meters of drilling.

Dryden stated that its 2026 exploration plans include additional regional sampling, follow-up surveys, and drilling across key targets, supported by a funded exploration budget of approximately CA$11.0 million.

The company's projects are located in Ontario, which ranked among the top global mining jurisdictions in the Fraser Institute's most recent survey, placing Dryden's exploration efforts within one of the highest-rated investment environments worldwide.

²According to the company, contingent on post private placement, management and insiders own 5.451%, while strategic entities hold 54.68% of the shares. 

Centerra Gold Inc. (CG:TSX; CADGF:OTCPK) holds 9.840%, Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI:TSX; AGI:NYSE) owns 10.50%, Delbrook Capital Advisors has 10.76%, and Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC owns 5.68%. There are currently 219 million shares outstanding. 

The company's market capitalization is CA$82 million, and it trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.48 to CA$0.105.

Denison Advances Phoenix Uranium Project in Saskatchewan

Denison Mines Corp. (DML:TSX; DNN:NYSE.MKT) is advancing development within Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin, one of the world's highest-ranked mining jurisdictions in the Fraser Institute's latest investment survey. The company recently announced that its board approved a final investment decision to proceed with the construction of the Phoenix in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mine. 

The decision follows nearly a decade of development work and the receipt of all required regulatory approvals. Site preparation and construction are expected to begin in March 2026, with a build period estimated at about 24 months and initial uranium production projected for mid-2028.

According to HoldCo Markets, Phoenix is expected to produce approximately 56 million pounds of uranium over an estimated 10-year mine life. The firm noted that the project would become the first ISR uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin and could rank among the more significant uranium operations globally.

Updated capital cost estimates place the total initial project investment at roughly CA$600 million, reflecting an increase from earlier estimates after adjusting for inflation. The updated plan includes contingency allowances and design refinements, including large-diameter wells intended to enhance operational flexibility during mining.

HoldCo Markets maintained a positive outlook on Denison and raised its 12-month price target to CA$5.80 per share. The firm also increased its long-term uranium price assumption and noted that the company's shares had outperformed peers in the large-cap uranium sector during the year.

Beyond Phoenix, the firm expects Denison's Gryphon underground uranium project to follow later in the development pipeline, with potential production beginning in the next decade.

Denison's flagship assets are located in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin, which consistently ranks among the top global mining jurisdictions in the Fraser Institute survey, positioning the company within one of the most favorable investment environments in the uranium sector.

²64.80% of Denison is held by Institutions, with Van Eck Associates holding the most at 8.46%. Management and insiders own 0.38% and strategic entities hold 0.01%. The rest is retail.

Denison has a market cap of CA$3.75 billion, 897.29 million shares outstanding, and a 52-week range of CA$1.08 – CA$4.43.

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