With a global pandemic and crashing stock markets, its no surprise financings have dropped off a cliff.
On Thursday Kitco caught up with Kai Hoffmann, CEO of Oreninc. Hoffmann's firm tracks financings in the mining and exploration space.
Hoffmann said financing activity has been dismal with COVID-19 roiling the markets. He said there have only been a handful of financings over $10 million. Illustrative of the bad month is Silvercrest, which raised $75 million in mid-March in a bought-deal financing. The markets then went south and the banks used a "disaster out" clause to try to pull out of the deal. Hoffmann noted that the issue is now before the courts.