The playbook for kleptocrats is to leave drillers to drill and...

The playbook for kleptocrats is to leave drillers to drill and only target exposures for theft once capex has been outlayed

In a sliding scale it starts with non renewals, moves to royalty increases and finally to demands for gov't owned project %s

This is one of the reasons Ive been saying Aus and Canada are my 2 preferred jurisdictions this cycle. US is a high risk imo - because it can target miners without it making a dent in the national gdp

Aus and Canada have to weigh losing meaningful jobs, gdp and broad stock market support if they attempt to nationalise. Australia is the largest gold producer in the world with 19% of proven gold reserves.

All govts are prone to theft. Only have to remember K Rudd's absurd MRRT proposal

But national self interest is the biggest protection against the really eggregious forms that savage shareholders

The difference in Mexico is they have oil to fall back on and they dont have our institutional protections to stop the proceeds of theft being funnelled primarily to individuals

So much lower personal incentive

But nowhere is 100% safe