The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition a report by PwC says new mining initial public offerings in the first quarter of 2014 were their lowest in five years. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post quotes the accountancy as saying there were just two new issues worth $3.8-million on the TSX Venture Exchange in the first quarter and no new offerings on the Toronto Stock Exchange. That compared with four new issues with a value of $422-million on all Canadian exchanges during the first quarter of 2013. PwC said it was the lowest quarterly tally for new issues since the first quarter of 2009, when there were $2.5-million in new issues. The firm also noted it was the fourth time since 2008 that its quarterly survey reported no new issues on the TSX -- the most recent in the first quarter of 2012. Dean Braunsteiner at PwC said the prospects for a quick turnaround did not look encouraging with the pipeline of new issues virtually empty "This time last year, REITs were driving the market," Mr. Braunsteiner says. "But concerns over interest rates have sidelined that market for now." He adds that with a big question mark over China, the extractive industries will probably not pick up the slack.