It was Australia's third-largest gold producer and controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum,[1] before entering administration in August 2004[2] following a financial collapse.

The original, Sons of Gwalia G. M. Co. was formed in 1897 by George William Hall, major investor William Pritchard Morgan and others to own and operate the Sons of Gwalia mine, which had been discovered in March 1896 by prospectors A. Glendinning, Jack Carlson and Frank White, who had named it after the Welsh homeland of the syndicate funder, Coolgardie storekeeper Thomas Tobias.

Lenticular ore bodies occurred in this schist, with the eastern limb called the Main Lode dipping 45 degrees to the east, and the western limb called the West Lode dipping 38 degrees to the east, since the surface expression was horseshoe shaped plunging to the south at a 70-degree angle.

[11] On 4 September 2000, a flight to the Gwalia mine with seven SGW employees failed to land, instead continuing on to Burketown, where it eventually crashed, having run out of fuel.

[22] The company entered administration in August 2004[2] following a financial collapse,[8] with debts exceeding $800 million after suffering from falling gold reserves and hedging losses.

[23] Sons of Gwalia was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum.

[29] On 4 September 2009, the former auditors of Sons of Gwalia, Ernst & Young, agreed to a $125 million settlement over their role in the gold miner's collapse.

Ferrier Hodgson, the company's administrator, had claimed Ernst & Young was negligent over the accounting of gold and dollar hedging contracts.