“The U.S. is tied with Papua New Guinea for dead last in the world in the time it takes to make a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision on permit applications. It has persisted as an unfortunate reality for nearly every project in the country and the consequences are really dire,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, advised attendees of the 2012 Alaska Strategic and Critical Minerals Summit held in Fairbanks last November.

Behre Dolbear, which has served as a global mining advisor for more than 100 years, attributed the United States’ red light ranking to the near decade it takes to gain a permit there.

“In 2009, Behre Dolbear found that the U.S. mine permitting process took an average of 5 to 7 years. Today, it’s 7 to 10 years. That’s a 40 percent increase in delays in only four years,” observed American Resources Policy Network President Dan McGroarty.

In comparison, it takes an estimated one to two years to gain mining permits in Australia, the top-ranked mining jurisdiction.

The long lead time to gain mining approval comes at a time when many in Washington D.C. are concerned about the potential risks of the United States’ over-reliance on other countries to supply rare earth elements and a multitude of other metals and minerals critical to national security, green technology and economic growth.

“Rare earths garner many of the headlines, but we need to look at the bigger picture,” said Murkowski. “We are 100-percent-dependent on foreign sources of 18 other minerals and more than 50-percent-dependent on foreign sources for some 25 others.”

In a recent report, the U.S. Department of Defense recommended building a strategic stockpile of seven rare earths and 16 other metals and minerals that are critical to the U.S. military but are in “insufficient supply to meet demand.”

Above and beyond the advantages of having a domestic source of strategic metals and minerals, Behre Dolbear said it has observed that a healthy mining industry is fundamental to the economic wellbeing of a nation.

“Over time, our assessment indicates a positive correlation between the growth of a nation’s wealth and the prosperity of its mining industry – only when a country recognizes its critical need to adapt and restructures burdensome policy – will it truly optimize this economic potential,” the mining advisor wrote.

This year’s “where not to invest” report ranked 25 countries on seven criteria:

• the country’s economic system;

• the country’s political system;

• the degree of social issues affecting mining in the country;

• delays in receiving permits due to bureaucratic and other issues;

• the degree of corruption prevalent in the country;

• the stability of the country’s currency; and

• the competitiveness of the country’s tax policy

Taking all seven criteria into consideration, Australia, with a score of 56 out of a possible perfect score of 70 (10 possible points per category), ranked first and Canada was second with a score of 54. Chile, Brazil and Mexico rounded out the top five.

The United States, with a score of 42, is considered the sixth best place in the world for mining investment.

“Permitting delays are the most significant risk to mining projects in the United States. A few mining friendly states (Nevada, Utah, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arizona) are an exception to this rule but are negatively impacted by federal rules that they are bound to enforce resulting in a seven- to 10-year waiting period before mine development can begin,” Behre Dolbear penned in the report.

Russia, scoring 16, is considered the worst place in the world to make a mining investment.