TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The fact that there are just 69 mining companies listed on the JSE, compared with thousands on the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange is "a bit embarrassing”, JSE business development and marketing director Noah Greenhill commented in Toronto on Saturday.

The JSE would like to see more mining and exploration firms, especially those with assets in South Africa and the rest of the continent, listed on the exchange.

However, the comparative ease of attracting capital to junior mining companies in jurisdictions like Australia, London and Toronto makes it difficult to woo companies to list in South Africa, Greenhill said on the sidelines of an event hosted by the South African High Commission in Canada.

Still, the potential for new listings this year looks “significantly better” than it did in 2009.

A coal company with a market capitalisation of around R9-billion has indicated an intention to list, while another coal company with a market capitalisation of more than R10-billion is also looking at listing in South Africa, Greenhill said in an earlier presentation.

“And I think we are starting to see a little bit more traction in the junior guys looking to list in South Africa.”

Although there are just 69 mining and exploration firms listed on the JSE, their combined market capitalisation is a whopping R1,86-trillion, making up some 32% of the market capitalisation of the JSE, he said.

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