Cost of going public for a mining company: fees compared

The cost of going public for a mining company has three parts, and the exchange’s own fee is the smallest of them. On a listing valued at 10 million in local currency, the listing fee is C$38,500 on the TSX Venture Exchange, C$25,000 on the Canadian Securities Exchange, A$97,626 on ASX and £23,800 on AIM, before tax. The larger costs are the advisers who prepare the documents, the commission on the money raised, and the first year of being a listed company.

Below are the exchange fees side by side, computed from each exchange’s own schedule as we read it on 12 November 2026, then what the rest of the bill is made of and what it costs to stay listed. Lawyers, auditors and agents quote deal by deal and no exchange publishes their fees, so this article gives no figure for them that it cannot source.

The exchange fees side by side

Each exchange charges on the value of what it lists, on a sliding scale with a cap, and tax is added: GST or HST in Canada, GST in Australia and VAT in the United Kingdom where it applies. The worked figures assume a listing valued at 10 million in the exchange’s own currency. Each exchange measures that value its own way: the TSX Venture Exchange counts shares reserved for issue, such as those under warrants, and AIM uses the opening price on the first day.

Exchange fees for a mining listing, as published on 12 November 2026
	TSXV	CSE	ASX	AIM
With the application	C$10,000, not refundable, counted toward the listing fee	Part of the fee is not refundable; C$5,000 more if the company has not listed within three months of conditional approval	Not covered here	Nothing; the admission fee is invoiced at admission
Listing fee on a value of 10 million	C$38,500	C$25,000, a flat fee for a reporting issuer, including one that files a prospectus	A$97,626	£23,800
How the fee is set	C$10,000 plus 0.4% of the listing value up to C$2.5 million, then lower rates in three bands	Flat	A$51,581 up to A$3 million, then a falling percentage of the value	£15,850 below £5 million, then an amount for each further £1 million
Most it can be	C$70,000	C$25,000	A$8 million, a cap that applies from 1 October 2026	£155,000
Shell routes	A capital pool company lists for C$15,000; a reverse takeover or qualifying transaction pays the full listing scale	C$50,000 for a fundamental change	Not covered here	A reverse takeover pays the admission fee again
Annual fee	C$5,500 plus 0.011% of market value, to a maximum of C$90,000: about C$6,600 at 10 million	Not set out on the fees page when we read it; ask the exchange	Set by value: A$44,129 at A$50 million, in ASX’s own example	£11,750 below £250 million, pro rata in the first year

From TSX Venture Exchange Policy 1.3, the CSE fees page, ASX’s revised initial listing fees and its listing fees page, and the London Stock Exchange fees for companies effective 1 January 2026. The figures on a value of 10 million are our arithmetic on those schedules. Tax is extra. Each source is listed below.

The fee is a poor reason to choose an exchange. The listing tests, the investors each market reaches and the rules for what a company may say after listing matter more, and we compare the tests in TSXV, CSE, ASX or AIM: listing requirements compared.

What the rest of the bill is made of

The exchange fee is one line in a longer bill. These are the costs a mining company should expect to see quoted, and where the rules fix any part of them.

Legal counsel. The company’s lawyers prepare or review the prospectus or circular, the listing application and the agreements, and on most routes the agent or underwriter has its own counsel. Fees are quoted per transaction.
Audited financial statements. A prospectus carries audited financial statements. On the CSE, a company that lists through a fundamental change files historical statements for the business it is acquiring, in the policy’s words “as if it were going public by way of prospectus”, with pro forma statements.
The technical report. An explorer listing on the TSX Venture Exchange or the CSE needs an NI 43-101 technical report on its property, and the CSE asks for an independent one. AIM asks for a Competent Person’s Report on all material assets, prepared no more than six months before the admission document. The qualified or competent person charges for the report and the site visit behind it.
The commission on the money raised. An agent or underwriter is paid a share of what it raises, and the terms are disclosed in the prospectus. The TSX Venture Exchange fixes a ceiling in one case: in a capital pool company’s IPO, the agent’s sales commission can be no more than 10% of the gross proceeds, and its option no more than 10% of the IPO shares.
Regulators and agents. Securities regulators charge to file a prospectus in each province or state where it is filed. A transfer agent keeps the share register, and where shares are escrowed an escrow agent holds them, each for a fee.
The nominated adviser on AIM. An AIM company must have a nominated adviser at admission and at all times after. The adviser’s fee is agreed with the company and is not published by the exchange.
What investors will see. The equity story, the investor website, the corporate presentation and the film. They are often budgeted last and needed first, because investors look for them on the first day of trading. Our engagements start at US$35,000.

What it costs to stay listed

After listing, the cost arrives every month rather than once. The annual exchange fee is the visible part. The rest is the work of a reporting issuer: audited annual financial statements and interim reports, management’s discussion and analysis, a news release for each material change, and a qualified person to approve technical statements. On ASX a mining exploration company also lodges a quarterly activity report.

Then there is being seen. In the 91 investor relations and marketing agreements we traced that TSXV and CSE companies announced from 2024 to 2026, the median one-off budget was about 150,000, in the currency each company stated. That is our count of the companies’ own news releases, not a recommendation, and what the money buys is set out in investor marketing for listed companies.

Five ways to spend less without showing investors less

Choose the route for the company, not the fee. A reverse takeover or qualifying transaction pays the same TSX Venture listing scale as an IPO, and on the CSE a fundamental change costs C$50,000 against C$25,000 for a reporting issuer. The route changes the work more than the fee, as our guide to the reverse takeover process sets out.
Use the preliminary assessment. For C$5,000, credited against the listing fee, the TSX Venture Exchange will give a preliminary view before the application, including on the geological report and the initial listing requirements. A problem found then costs less than one found in review.
Commission the technical report early. It recommends the work programme the listing tests measure, and every technical statement in the deck and on the website will rest on it.
Make the investor materials once. One design system for the website, the deck and the film costs less than three suppliers working apart, and the company says one thing everywhere.
Plan the first ninety days before the first day. The listing fee buys a ticker. A calendar of news and content is what brings investors back to it.

How we help

We make what investors see when a company lists: the equity story, the investor website, the deck and the film, by one team. We are not your lawyers, your auditors or your bankers, and they have the last word on the documents and what is published.

The work is set out on our going public page. If you are budgeting a listing, book a call and tell us the exchange, the route and the date.

Questions

How much does it cost to list on the TSX Venture Exchange?

The exchange’s own fee runs on a scale from C$10,000 plus 0.4% of the listing value to a maximum of C$70,000: C$38,500 on a value of C$10 million, plus tax. C$10,000 of it is paid with the application. A capital pool company pays C$15,000. Lawyers, auditors, the technical report and the agent’s commission usually cost more than the fee.

Is it cheaper to list on the CSE than the TSXV?

On the exchange fee, usually. The CSE charges a flat C$25,000 for a reporting issuer, and the TSX Venture scale passes C$25,000 at a listing value of about C$4.2 million. The rest of the bill is much the same on both, so choose on the listing tests and the investors, not the fee.

What is the biggest cost of going public?

For most mining companies, the advisers and the commission on the money raised, not the exchange. No exchange publishes advisers’ fees. The one published ceiling we found is the TSX Venture Exchange’s for a capital pool company IPO: an agent’s commission of no more than 10% of gross proceeds.

Does a reverse takeover cost less than an IPO?

Not at the exchange. On the TSX Venture Exchange a reverse takeover pays the same listing scale as an IPO, on the CSE a fundamental change costs C$50,000, and on AIM the enlarged company pays the admission fee again. It still needs a full disclosure document and must meet the listing requirements.

What does it cost to stay listed?

The annual exchange fee (about C$6,600 on the TSX Venture Exchange at a market value of C$10 million, and at least £11,750 on AIM), plus audited accounts, continuous disclosure, a qualified person for technical statements and the work of staying in front of investors.

The cost of going public for a mining company: exchange fees, advisers and the first year