Toronto’s status as a leading global mining hub is at risk as exploration firms relocate and investors look for friendlier jurisdictions owing to an increasingly complicated geopolitical landscape. Once a go-to destination for mining finance, Canada’s largest city is seeing a steady decline in mining listings.
“The industry that has fueled most of the great Canadian minerals discoveries over the past 50 years is but a skeleton of itself,” Pierre Lassonde, co-founder of Franco-Nevada, one of the leading gold-focused royalty companies, said per Bloomberg.
Toronto’s TSX Venture Exchange has been declining since 2010, as the number of mining sector listings dropped from 1,531 to just 1,097, according to the latest data from the exchange owner. Industry consolidation, foreign investment restrictions, and a shift in investor priorities drove this trend.
Capital raised within the sector has stagnated as well. In 2014, 2015, and…
