Paul Stein, mining specialist at Cassels Brock & Blackwell in Toronto, said: 'There are a lot of companies with single projects in various stages of development, which are in trouble in the sense that they need capital and there isn’t a lot of capital. I think 2014 will be a very creative year.'  John Wilkin, M&A lawyer at Cassels & Graydon in Toronto, said: 'If you think about listing costs and advisory costs just to maintain a listing, there’s not a lot left over for an exploration program.'

Difficult conditions

And Kevin Thomson, M&A specialist at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg in Toronto, said: 'Mining companies globally are operating in a very difficult set of conditions right now, which is tied almost exclusively to soft commodity prices, or more importantly, volatile commodity prices.' Source: Financial Post