Above ground risk refers to non quantifiable risks that can adversely affect a project or investment. Above ground risk is generally used in the energy industry to refer to non technical risks such as environmental issues and the regulatory climate. For broader understanding, above ground risk refers to a wide range of somewhat nebulous risks such as political risk, corporate risk, security and corporate governance whose impact is difficult to quantify but could be significant should one or more of these risks become a real threat.

Above ground risk is connected to the price of mining commodity price because it is a significant factor in mining sectors, exploration and production. Above ground risk are often greater and more difficult to mitigate, it can expose international companies of reputational risk due to petty corruption and bribery and corruption which has been a big problem for energy and mining industries. Such above ground risk can lead to a collapse in investment in mining products such as oil production capacity, there by exposing a lot of international oil companies to large losses and thereby affecting the price of that product.