Gold and platinum group metals (PGM) miner Sibanye-Stillwater has spent $82m (R1.45bn) on a new precious-metal refinery to expand its US recycling operations.
Metallix Refining, valued by Sibanye at $105m, produces recycled gold, silver and PGM from industrial waste streams in North Carolina. The 60-year-old firm supplies customers in the US, UK and South Korea.
In an announcement on Monday, Sibanye explained that the acquisition would add processing capacity and proprietary technology to its US recycling operations, “enhancing the group’s global recycling reach”.
“The scale, technology and know-how adds positively to our existing recycling operations and advances our urban mining strategy,” said Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman, who expected “significant value uplift through the large number of synergies with [Sibanye’s] existing recycling operations”.
An increased presence in the US also offers Sibanye more shelter from the country’s increasingly protectionist foreign policy stance under US President Donald Trump. PGM operations carry particular weight in this regard, given that the US classifies platinum and palladium as critical to the clean energy transition and, therefore, strategically significant.
The US’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers support to PGM producers operating within the country by allowing companies to claim back 10% of their production costs.
Additionally, precious metals were among the few SA exports excluded from US “liberation day” tariffs, giving the local mining sector some protection from the two countries’ deteriorating trade relationship.
As a result, unlike many sectors of the economy, SA mining has been somewhat sheltered from Trump’s tariffs and their implications on global growth.
Among SA’s miners, Sibanye-Stillwater is uniquely placed to weather the US-SA trade storm, given its prominent palladium operations in the US and platinum mines in SA. The gold and PGM group has more than doubled its share price in the past six months, adding R68bn to its value.
In recent months, Sibanye has also benefited from Europe’s push for critical minerals.
In March, the group said that its Finnish lithium mine and French EV battery operation had been classified “strategic projects” under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), a piece of legislation designed to grow Europe’s domestic supply of the minerals required to decarbonise its energy and transport systems.
The miner has nearly doubled its share price since end-December, skyrocketing by 182% on record gold prices, soaring PGM prices and strong earnings for the three months to end-March.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.