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Tony Featherstone is a former managing editor of BRW and Shares magazine. He edits the ASX Investor Update e-newsletter. The views expressed are his own.

Recent media reports suggest the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is considering a separate trading board for junior mining stocks and some exemptions to admission rules for smaller companies - a welcome development if it happens. But a bigger problem exists in the listed mining space - the lack of research and investment-product innovation.

Morningstar data shows 774 listed companies in the materials sector and 240 listed energy companies. Dozens of other listed companies service the materials and energy sectors. ASX data shows 2229 listed companies, although some are investment companies and managed funds. So at least half of all listed operating companies in Australia are resource-related.

Most of the 112 listings so far this financial year have been resource companies, a similar story to initial public offerings (IPOs) activity in 2009/10. All but three of the 25 companies with live IPOs currently are for resource companies. It is safe to say the number of listed resource companies will grow rapidly if commodity prices and sharemarket conditions are favourable. More dual-listing of overseas resource companies in Australia could become a feature.

Of course, I am talking about volumes, not market capitalisation. The materials and energy sectors accounted for a combined 36 per cent of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index by weighting at 28 March, Standard & Poor's (S&P) data shows. That should increase as more resource stocks displace industrials in the top 200 because of the mining boom's sheer force.

Mining sector domination is not just in big indices. About 45 per cent of the weighting of the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index now comes from resource stocks - a key reason small-caps have outperformed blue chips over the past year.

If you believe Australia's two-speed economy will continue for some time yet, with the resources sector leaving most others in its dust, there should be many more resource company listings, notwithstanding commodity price corrections that make marginal projects uneconomic, and more competition for Australian resource sector listings from exchanges in Hong Kong and Canada.

Now consider the avenues for investment. Morningstar data shows 23 managed funds specialising in resources, with average net assets of $110 million - small in the scheme of things. It could be argued that small-cap managed funds give much greater exposure to the resource sector these days, given that almost half of their benchmark Small Ordinaries Index is in resources.

But many small-cap funds have a bias to industrial companies, mining-services stocks, or mining producers with profits. Their mandates sometimes make it hard to invest in small exploration companies a long way from production, although some funds invest in such stocks, simply because they risk falling behind their resource-heavy benchmark index if they do not.

Only three listed investment companies (LICs) specialise in resources, ASX data shows. Four exchanged traded funds (ETFs) and six exchange traded commodities (ETCs) specialise in the resource sector and commodities. Another resource-focused ETF from State Street Global Advisors will launch next month. These funds together are worth less than a billion dollars.

To be fair, it is harder to issue funds and structured products over small and mid-cap resource stocks because of their low liquidity and lack of research. The domination of BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) in the resource sector - and the fact these stocks are widely held directly - arguably make it harder for managers to add value beyond index returns. Product issuers could also argue that most investor interest in mining stocks is within the top 300, so why bother anyway.

Even so, I believe the investment community has been off the pace when it comes to investment product innovation in the resource sector. Maybe it was caught out by the extent of the mining boom, like so many others.