I know how much it costs for an exploration or development stage company for ongoing reporting, and it isn't that much. Most development stage companies do not use one of the "name" auditors, and since they do not have revenue, the audit cost is very low - in most cases $10-$25K annually. Companies with toxic death spiral convertibles will usually pay more, but it doesn't matter as any company with death spirals is already dead and no longer to be considered a legitimate company - just an insider enrichment scheme at that point.
The XBRL is only expensive during the initial set-up. As development and exploration stage companies don't have revenue and the financial statements rarely change much, the ongoing XBRL is not expensive. Personally, I find XBRL a complete waste of time and money for smaller companies, but as of now, it remains an SEC requirement. Total filing costs are rarely more than $10-$12.5K a year. And transfer agent costs are often higher for non-reporting companies than for reporting companies.
For a typical exploration stage mineral exploration company, total yearly SEC reporting costs should be under $30K or so. Sometimes a little more, and sometimes a little less.
And it is not legitimate to deregister because these companies have zero chance of raising money to continue as going concerns once they have filed Form 15's. The only reason to deregister is to hide illegal activities from the eyes of the SEC and investors. They often use "saving money" as an excuse, but then they turn around and spend substantially more money on OTCMarket's "alternative reporting standards" and other stock promotion. It is a crock.
