Mineral title management—the key to attracting foreign mining investment in developing countries?

Abstract

Many developing countries are reforming their mining legislation to attract private foreign investment. The effectiveness of this legislation depends on its proper implementation by the regulatory and administrative regime; mineral title management is considered the cornerstone of this implementation.

An analysis of the main criteria to which mining companies refer in making investment decisions reveals that a significant proportion - including security of tenure, regarded as the most important apart from geological potential - reflect perceptions of a country's administrative procedures and government agency functions. An attempt is made to identify the key features of a mineral title management system and to show how in an effective system these features can be made to match the investors' criteria, thus helping to attract foreign mining investment.