Watershed moment for Sibanye-Stillwater with maiden lithium reserve
THE VISION of Sibanye-Stillwater’s CEO Neal Froneman to make a big play in electric battery metals has finally born fruit as the precious metals miner on Friday declared a maiden lithium reserve of 193 600 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at its 85%-owned Keliber project, in Finland.
The diversified miner also announced a 133% increase in lithium mineral resources to 452 900 tons of LCE. The declaration of a mineral reserve at Keliber follows the completion of a positive feasibility study on the project, as well as approval for its construction.
Earlier this month, the miner announced that it had received a key environmental permit for its Keliber lithium mining and processing project in Finland, clearing the path for a facility to supply the European battery market.
This is a watershed moment for the miner that has seen its share price rise 204.63% in five years, as the miner’s footprint, with its diversified portfolio of assets, now stretches across five continents.
Last week, JSE CEO Leila Fourie @ LeilaFourie tweeted: “Congratulations @ SIBSTILL When it ws listed 10 years ago, Sibanye market cap was R10bn. Today its market cap it R130bn.”
For the past few years it has acquired nickel and lithium projects to bolster its green metals pipeline, with an increased focus on battery metals such as lithium.
A 2022 analysis by the McKinsey Battery Insights team projects that the entire lithium-ion battery chain, from mining through recycling, could grow by more than 30% annually from 2022 to 2030, when it would reach a value of more than $400bn (R7.2 trillion).
Sibanye on February 7 released a report, Positioning as a provider of strategic metals for tomorrow’s green technologies, which found that a significant investment in lithium supply needed to meet Battery Electric Vehicle demand projections.
It aimed to establish a strategic battery metals presence close to chosen regional ecosystems to enhance its value proposition.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba earlier this this month, Froneman said Sibanye could be more active in mergers and acquisitions this year and was looking at lithium projects in Africa, though it is more focused on North America and Europe, Reuters reported.
The US Inflation Reduction Act added an estimated $200m to $300m to the value of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine project over its lifetime, Froneman said, Reuters reported.
Sibanye has a 50% stake in the Nevada project being built by ioneer. Rhyolite Ridge holds the largest known lithium and boron deposit in North America.
Meanwhile, Sibanye, on Friday, flagged a decrease in its US platinum and palladium reserves following a repositioning of the platinum group metal (PGM) operations through enhanced estimation methodologies and consequent updates to the life-of-mine plans.
“The estimates reflect minor yearon-year decreases of 3.6% and 6.1%, respectively, due to enhanced tons in estimation methodologies, with considerable Mineral Reserve upside potential remaining, based on the very large Inferred Resource base of 44.8 million ounces,” the group said
There are now 26.3 million ounces and 84.2 million ounce reserves at the Stillwater and East Boulder mines.
The mineral reserves supported a 42-year life of mine, building up to 700 000 ounces of annual production by 2026.
Sibanye also announced a 2.3% decrease in platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold (4E) mineral reserves at the South African PGM operations to 31.4 million ounces, due to a depletion of 2.7 million ounces during 2022.
The mineral reserve decrease in South Africa had partly been offset by Sibanye’s conclusion of a positive feasibility study at the 50% owned Mimosa North Hill project, adding 1.5 million ounces to reserves.