Almost unnoticed was the decision just before Christmas by Ivernia West to cancel its Dublin exploration market listing and move to a single listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Ivernia took the listing in Toronto mainly on the basis that there is a greater appetite for mining stocks. Certainly, there is no doubt that the TSE is a favourite market for junior mining companies but, when times get tough and metal prices go through the floor, even the supposed appetite of Canadian punters isn't going to stop those share prices going through the floor.

The period since Ivernia took the Toronto listing has coincided with the worst slump in the base metal industry - a slump that has already seen Outokumpu's Tara mine mothballed and two of the biggest zinc mines in Europe, Ivernia's Lisheen and Arcon's Galmoy, churning out lots of zinc concentrate but also lots of losses.

For Ivernia, its Toronto listing saw an initial spike up to one Canadian dollar before the prices snowballed downwards to a low of Can$0.08 in October, before it hit a 2001 close of just Can$0.12.

Maybe when the base metal market turns - and there are many doubters about the likelihood of a short-term turnaround - Ivernia's price might bounce.

That's a big if for Ivernia's small shareholders, who are sitting on heavy losses.

Ivernia's 50 per cent partner in the Lisheen mine is mining giant Anglo American, which also owns almost 24 per cent of Ivernia itself.

With the industry at a 30-year low in terms of zinc prices, it might not seem the most auspicious time for Anglo American to take 100 per cent control of Lisheen by buying out the 76 per cent of Ivernia it does not own.

However, this would cost Anglo American little more than small change and it would give the mining giant 100 per cent control of a valuable asset once zinc prices recover.

At Can$0.12, the outstanding shares in Ivernia are worth no more than Can$10 million (€7.6 million)! A bid would obviously have to be pitched at a decent premium to the price in the market, but embattled Ivernia shareholders would by now probably grasp at any straw.

And what of Arcon, the other Irish mining group, that will hardly go down in the annals as one of Sir Anthony O'Reilly's greatest investments.

Millions of the O'Reilly fortune have been pumped into buying effective control of Arcon and then developing the mine.

The collapse in zinc prices has sent Arcon into the penny-share category where, at three cents, they are in danger of being lumped into that elite bunch of exploration stocks whose share price is so low that they have to be traded in units of 10 shares.

Late last year, Arcon was also forced into renegotiating its loan terms with its bankers - particularly a $11.1 million repayment that is due next June.

There has been on-off speculation for the best part of the year that Sir Anthony would be happy to unload this loss-haemorrhaging distraction, and at three cents Arcon is worth just €9 million - and the O'Reilly 44 per cent stake less than €4 million. But would any buyer be willing to keep operating Galmoy at current price levels, or simply do a Tara and mothball the mine until prices recover?

One thing seems clear: neither Lisheen nor Galmoy can continue to keep operating indefinitely at the current rate of loss. Not a pretty picture!