The junior mining and exploration sector always swings in the breeze, but the latest slump is unprecedented.

The guys at Palisade Research have put together two devastating charts that show just how depressed the TSX Venture Exchange has become.

The current bear market has been with us for 1,030 days and counting.

While 2008's retreat was deeper it was over in not much more than a year and (who can forget) was followed by a spectacular bull run.

Palisade's second graph shows when removing new issues, from 2011 to April 2015, the Venture has suffered nearly 1,200 casualties, close to half its constituents.

While new companies have been slowly replacing the dead, the index is still 300 companies lighter says Palisade.

• [Editor:Juan]