Perth-based Mawson West plans to delist from the Australian stock market after major shareholders said the explorer would be better off as an unlisted public company.
In a statement today, the company said the value of its net assets was not reflected in its share price, which has plummeted from a 52-week high of 24 cents to its last traded price of 4.4 cents at 15:31 AEDT.
The share price slump follows a number of "positive" announcements in relation to assets including the Kapulo copper project which straddles the border of Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo, Mawson claims.
"The Company's major shareholders have expressed the view that the market is not rewarding the Company's exploration performance and would be better off developing as an unlisted public company until such time as it can sustain a material market capitalisation," Mawson said.
It added that it has taken steps to address the decline in the true value of its underlying assets however the "Board has reached the conclusion that these initiatives have not resulted in any significant and sustained value enhancements to investors".
Mawson said it has been offered a number of privately held projects, however given the low share price, it has not been able to extract value from a share-based deal or undertake any fundraising activity that would not drastically dilute existing shareholders.
"Any significant acquisition is therefore not generally beneficial to existing shareholders using ASX prices as a basis," the company said.
The delisting proposal is subject to a shareholder vote at a yet to be scheduled extraordinary general meeting.
