Shares in Sibanye-Stillwater gyrated yesterday as a trading statement showed the miner enduring a R7.8bn hit on its Finnish Keliber lithium project, among other impairments.
Last month the group announced that it would embark on a phased implementation of the lithium venture after costs of the project surged 17% to €783m due to regulatory changes and expanded project scope.
“The impairment of the Keliber lithium project during the second half of 2025 was due to a further decrease in the long-term lithium hydroxide price forecast compared to that of the first half of 2025, and an extended start and build-up assumption following the assessment in the second half of 2025,” said Sibanye.
The group’s Kloof mine in Johannesburg was impaired by a further R3.78bn following a significant write-down of the asset. Earlier this week, Sibanye announced that its gold mineral reserves fell 6.3% to 9.4-million ounces at end-December thanks to production constraints at Kloof.
The combined R11.58bn hit comes after the group reported a R4.23bn impairment at its US platinum group metals (PGM) operations in the first half of 2025 as a result of US President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The act, signed into law in July 2025, will result in tax credits for Sibanye’s US PGM operations being phased out between 2031 and 2034 as part of Trump’s broader rollback of environmental protection policies governed by the country’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Overall, Sibanye will recognise R15.81bn in impairments when it reports full-year results on Friday. Still, the pressure on its balance sheet is balanced by a broader rally in the precious metals sector.
The higher forecast gold prices resulted in R1.92bn in previous impairment losses on the group’s Beatrix, Driefontein and Burnstone operations being reversed.
As precious metal prices continue to rise to fresh records, HEPS are expected to soar by more than 360% to 232c-256c.
Shares in Sibanye fell 3.7% on Wednesday afternoon, extending an 8% decline in the past week, but are up 260% in the past year. However, by the close the shares had clawed back the day’s losses and were 0.33% ahead at R63.97.
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