Mawson West

About Mawson West

Mawson West was a copper and silver-focused resource company based in Perth, Australia, primarily operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Founded in 1996, with Mark Stowell as a founder and chairman, the company focused on exploration, development, and production. Stowell, a chartered accountant with extensive experience in resource business management, was also a founder of Anvil Mining Ltd.

The company's key assets were the Dikulushi copper-silver mine and the Kapulo copper project, located in the Katanga province of the DRC. Mawson West held a significant land package of approximately 7,300 square kilometers in the region. In 2010, the company acquired the Kapulo mine from Anvil Mining. The business model revolved around extracting and producing copper and silver concentrates. For instance, in a 2014 agreement, Mawson West arranged to sell 100% of the copper concentrate from its Dikulushi and Kapulo mines to the commodities trader Trafigura for a four-year period. This deal included a US$50 million prepayment, which provided necessary funding for the development of the Kapulo project.

The company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and formerly on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), from which it delisted in 2009. In 2016, due to a sustained weakness in the price of copper that rendered mining operations unprofitable, Mawson West placed its Kapulo mine on care and maintenance. Subsequently, Galena Private Equity Resources Fund LP, a fund managed by a subsidiary of the Trafigura Group, completed a takeover of Mawson West, taking the company private.