A quick scan of the data so far, however, shows that 2014 is shaping up as an even rougher year for the market.

Taking stock of the small cap miners launching IPOs this year, the data shows offerings are massively down both in number and dollars.

At the end of April, two resource companies had listed, compared to 12 by the same time last year.

Including other sectors a total of eight companies made listings compared to 12 last year.

In terms of dollars raised, small cap resources companies found $68.1 million by the end of April last year. This year they’ve only managed to scrape together $6.7 million.

Valence Industries accounted for that $6.7 million with its float in January, while U&D Coal, a slightly larger company not classed as a small cap, raised $54.3 million in February.

While it was a healthy figure, U&D’s raising came in well below a $125 million roof it set before the float.

Also new to the list this year is Stavely Minerals, which debuted at a premium earlier this month, while QCG Resources also announced plans for a float worth up to $60 million.

Nevertheless, the dollars and listings so far are well down on 2013, which was itself a dire year.

HLB Mann Judd partner Marcus Ohm, who specialises in IPOs and closely monitors the market, told MiningNews.net that 2014 looked to be another terrible year for small miners seeking funds.

“I’m not surprised, to be honest, because I think it’s just a reflection of sentiment in relation to resources stocks at the moment,” he said.

“Until we get something that’s going to attract investors back into this market it’s going to be quite difficult for these companies.”

Ohm said investors were focused on the big end of town, with resource companies particularly out of sight.

“Basically if you’re a larger cap company and you’re not in the resources sector there’s opportunities there,” he said.

“If you’re a small cap resources company, there’s just nothing at all.

“It’s a theme that’s just kept going since we last did our report at the end of December.”

So far investors seem unenthused with most mining stocks, with a lack of activity, exploration and growth combining with low commodity prices to paint a poor picture of the industry.

Many big investors have also burnt their money on failed floats over the last few years and erasing that memory is no easy feat.

“It’s a catch-22 situation I think for the resources companies because to be more attractive to investors they’ve got to be able to prove up their exploration but they just don’t have the cash at the moment,” Ohm said.

Ohm said without a strong growth avenue it was hard to build a case for investors but on the flip side, those with extra funds were able to set themselves apart in the field.

At its launch Stavely was keen to highlight this point as a key contributor to its success.

“We have come to the market with high quality, drill-ready targets and a drilling program that begins as soon as practical after listing,” Stavely managing director Chris Cairns said.

“This stands in contrast to explorers which first have to undertake preliminary exploration to define drill targets.

“We have already done a lot of the hard work with our own money, so we can hit the ground running.”

Outside this there are still some positives to take from the current environment.

Anecdotally, Ohm said several analysts were forecasting positive price action on some stocks moving forward.

It may help bring investors back to the market and the exploration incentives included in the federal budget should also direct funds toward smaller explorers.

All of this could help improve investor sentiment, which could ultimately boost IPO action at the smaller end of the resource sector.

But it’s not just investors who need convincing.

Mining bosses themselves are increasingly wary of making IPOs, with the risks warding off many potential developers.

“One of the things that’s been probably weighing against IPOs is just people see the cost of pursuing an IPO and all the compliance costs that come in with that,” Ohm said.

“I think people that have got projects are probably looking at different ways of doing it, whether it’s just getting the project up into a listed shell or something like that so you don’t have all the costs associated with a listing.

“It’s quite an expensive exercise and there’s no guarantee you’re going to be successful with it.”

With conditions so tough developing good relations and keeping stakeholders on board is even more important and refining the management team can also pay big dividends.

“It’s so hard to do anything at all at the moment so you’ve got to stack all the chips in your favour as much as possible,” Ohm said.

“One way of doing that is having the right management in place.

“Sometimes you get investors that follow different CEOs or MDs around.

“If you’ve got people who have good connections on your management that can certainly help as well.

“It really depends on quality management and the quality of the investor strategy. If you don’t tick the box on those two you’re struggling a little bit.”

But while good management, a killer strategy and a clear growth route can offer strength in the declining market, for a lot of prospective miners there’s still no way around the current conditions.

There are more potential listings in the pipeline for 2014 but it’s still set to be an quieter year.

“It’s been a disappointing quarter,” Ohm said.

“I thought there would be a few more small cap resources coming through but it just hasn’t happened.

“The market in general is just really biased towards the large cap stuff at the moment.”