Investors homed in on base metals, which accounted for 40% of the figure, while gold financing also hit a nine-year high in the quarter of $1.68 billion.

However, while appetite for industrial metals remained strong throughout the quarter, gold financings slid fractionally in the month of March to $682 million.

Of the March quarter total, $1.86 billion was committed towards copper, up 54% year-on-year, while a further $2.25 billion was raised for so-called ‘specialty' commodities, of which just over half went towards lithium.

The strong showing by copper and battery metals comes as little surprise given the level of hype surrounding the sectors of late, with investors keen to gain to materials seen as integral to the post-COVID green recovery.

In terms of the regional split by exchange, the TSX/TSXV and ASX still account for more than three-quarters of the year-to-date total, with $3.24 billion raised in Toronto and $1.34 billion in Sydney.