In its quarterly update on ASX-listed explorers, BDO found that the average exploration expenditure for the June quarter increased for the first time in nine quarters, from $A360,000 in March to $418,000.

There was also an increase in the percentage of companies that had exploration expenditure in excess of $300,000 to near 30%.

Importantly, there was a fall in companies not completing any exploration – also known as zombies – to 46.4%.

“This indicates that the reluctance by explorers to invest may be diminishing as commodity prices and general market conditions improved over the quarter,” BDO said.

There was also a big jump in the number of companies with positive financing cashflows, with 50.9% able to raise funds through equity markets or borrowings, up from 42.3%.

The June quarter saw an increase of $946 million in total net financing cashflows, with 10 gold companies raising more than $10 million during the quarter.

A total of 33 companies raised more than $10 million, up from just seven a quarter earlier.

The biggest raising was by graphite developer Syrah Resources, which raised $194.3 million, while lithium hopeful Pilbara Minerals raised $95.7 million.

The average cash balance increased by more than $1 million during the quarter to $5.85 million.

The number of companies with only one or two quarters’ worth of cash continued to decline.

Total net investment cashflows increased from $47 million during the March quarter to $149 million in the June quarter.

There was a 3.4% decline in companies lodging Appendix 5B reports to 713, with 14 companies the subject of backdoor listings and 13 being delisted or suspended.

BDO said with the ASX rule changes around backdoor listings, there was likely to be an increase in initial public offerings going forward.

There’s already evidence of a pick-up, with Egan Street Resources and Berkut Minerals listing in the past few weeks and a long queue of names conducting IPOs and spin-offs.