Hundreds of small mineral exploration companies may have their stock delisted by Canada's TSX Venture Exchange in the coming month

Hundreds of small mineral exploration companies may have their stock delisted by Canada's TSX Venture Exchange in the coming month. As commodity prices boomed in the past decade, a flood of new issuers swelled the ranks of the Venture, but the money has dried up over the past 2 years. Hardest hit are the Venture-listed, exploration-stage companies that depend on equity financing to develop their properties to the point where they can build a mine or sell the asset to a major. While the mining sector has always been subject to boom and bust, the potential shakeout could be especially damaging this time.