The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that Toronto's claim as the world's top mining hub is under threat as exploration companies leave Canada and listings dwindle on the nation's resource-heavy stock exchange. The Post's Jacob Lorinc writes that Canada's once-thriving mining industry is facing challenges to its decades-old model, in which explorers and developers woo investors with promises of mining breakthroughs and established producers feed on their success, swallowing them in lucrative takeovers. Industry consolidation has reduced head offices and eliminated listings, companies find it harder to attract investors, and government rules on foreign investment have become more restrictive. As executives, bankers and investors gather this week for the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto, the health of the industry is top of mind for attendees visiting this global mining epicentre. The Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange represent 40 per cent of the world's public mining companies, providing home to 1,097 listings. That is down from 2010, when the exchanges had 1,531 mining companies to account for 56 per cent of global listings for the industry.