Sibanye-Stillwater to reposition its US PGM operations for lower cost structure

Johannesburg: Sibanye-Stillwater advises that it will be implementing a restructuring of its US PGM operations to reduce the operating and capital cost structures and ensure sustainability through a lower palladium price environment.

The restructuring follows an initial repositioning for the changing macro environment announced in July 2022, with the subsequent anticipated decline in the palladium price and impact of ongoing inflationary cost pressures at the operations, necessitating a reduction in the cost structures.

The restructuring is expected to affect approximately 100 Sibanye-Stillwater employees, the majority of which are at the Stillwater Mine, with the remainder spread between the East Boulder Mine, the Columbus Metallurgical Complex and Columbus offices as well as remote work locations.

This follows attrition of approximately 20 employees since beginning of October 2023. A significant amount of contract workers other than essential services will also be impacted, with the approximately 187 contract workers (69% of current primary mining contract workers) affected across the sites.

The restructuring is not expected to significantly impact current 2E mine production or recycling production but will result in significantly lower costs and capital.

Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater commented: “We have taken decisive action to address costs at the US PGM operations, to ensure the sustainability of these long-life operations during a challenging period of lower than anticipated PGM prices. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we will engage frankly and candidly with affected stakeholders during this challenging period.”