Canadian junior mining companies, which do most of the resource exploration in the world, are being strangled by financial regulation and must mobilize to survive, a new organization says.

The organization, the Venture Company Association, says regulatory costs are rising while the mining industry's ability to raise capital is collapsing. The association says that more than 700 mining exploration companies registered in Canada probably cannot survive to the end of the year if they have to meet current regulatory requirements.

A founder of the organization, Joe Martin of the resource conference company Cambridge House, writes in the organization's initial appeal:

"Markets go up and markets go down but this 'double whammy' may well bring about the death of the great historical tradition Canada has achieved in becoming the No. 1 nation in finding mineable ore bodies and bringing them into production around the world. ...

"The world will need commodities and prices will once again go up. But when they do, our mining and exploration companies will wake up to the fact that Canadian regulators have killed their ability to survive.

"Canadian public markets are controlled by banks that have lost sight of the necessity of venture capital in growing an economy. The banks now own TMX, the company that controls both the TSX and TSX Venture exchanges. They simply have no concept of the importance of having a venture market in creating jobs and growing an economy."

The Venture Company Association's founding meeting will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 18. Everyone involved with the mining exploration business is invited to attend, with registration requested.

To register for the meeting and obtain more information about the Venture Company Association, please visit its Internet site here:

http://venturecrisis.org

Martin's appeal to the industry, headlined "Strangulation by Regulation," is posted here:

http://venturecrisis.org/?p=283