RE: Sr. Executives of Jr. Cdn Jrs: "This is time!"
If the thousands of job losses, mine closures, plunge in coal mine stocks that aren't expected to recover, perhaps the following quotes from Senior executives of Canadian juniors will convince stockholders to cut their losses. (Mining.com source). So, given this lament, stockholders need to ask "Why promote a coal mine in the wrong place at the wrong time? Who profits?"
Canada's mining sector failed to book a single IPO in the first quarter of 2013, financing for junior miners continues to dry up, and Canadian miners abroad are facing increasing local opposition.
These are tough times for Canadian mining.
At home
Domestically, senior executives of Canadian juniors complain that the market is the worst that it has ever been. After one of the greatest resource sector bull markets in history, mining project valuations have now, in the eyes of some, become irrational.
"A bull market will always go higher, and a bear market will fall farther than you expect it will,” cautioned Frank Giustra in a recent article for ceo.ca.
The gloom was felt at Toronto's PDAC international mining convention last month as the reality that many juniors will eventually go bust continues to set in.
"We have a crisis in the small- and mid-sized companies that are exploring. And there is a lot of selling that's happening," says MaryAnn Mihychuk, PDAC board member.
"Low cash balances, coupled with broader pressures around regulatory risks and rising operating costs, have put some junior miners at a disadvantage in the capital markets and undoubtedly."
Mihychuk says there are about 630 companies, which makes up about half of the 1,300 listed companies in Canada, that have less than $200,000 in working capital.
"For some junior miners (25%) around the world, the liquidity crunch is serious enough that they need to raise cash within three months or less, with that number rising to 31% in Canada."