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<p>Sibanye-Stillwater says it managed to save about 500 jobs from the projected 5,270 it initially planned. The CEO Neal Froneman joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Sibanye CEO on Marikana restructuring

Sibanye CEO on Marikana restructuring, PGM outlook & self-generation of power


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Sibanye-Stillwater is in talks over a potential acquisition of the world’s deepest gold mine, Mponeng, as current owner AngloGold Ashanti plans its South African exit, Sibanye said on Thursday.</p>



<p>A spokesman for the diversified miner confirmed the talks, after AngloGold said in May that it would review divestment options for Mponeng and other South African assets to focus on higher returns elsewhere.</p>



<p>“We have said we are open minded to the opportunity,” Sibanye chief executive Neal Froneman said.</p>



<p>“We are not panting after more deep-level gold mines but there are significant synergies and opportunities between Driefontein and Mponeng.”</p>



<p>He declined to comment further due to a non-disclosure agreement.</p>



<p>Sibanye swung into the red in the first half as a five-month strike at its South African gold operations weighed on profits despite improved financial results from the South African and U.S. platinum group metals (PGMs) operations.</p>



<p>Sibanye on Thursday reported a headline loss for the six months to end June of 54 cents per share, compared with a profit of 4 cents per share a year before.</p>



<p>“We have successfully navigated our way through this challenging period and I am confident that we have emerged in a stronger position,” Froneman said in a statement.</p>



<p>A five-month strike at the firm’s gold operations over pay and job cuts, which ended in April and cost Sibanye more than $100 million in lost revenue, also hit gold output.</p>



<p>Bullion production for the period fell to 344,752 ounces from 598,517 ounces a year earlier.</p>



<p>The miner, which is currently engaged in wage negotiations in the platinum sector, said it would be able to sustain a strike in the sector but that it was an unlikely scenario as negotiations were ongoing.</p>



<p>The sector’s majority union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which originally demanded a hike of around 48%, said earlier this month that the offer by Sibanye for the Lonmin operations was a “slap in the face”.</p>



<p>Sibanye, which concluded the Lonmin acquisition in June to become the world’s second-largest platinum producer, said the assets were currently under a review which would be concluded during the third quarter.</p>



<p>“Whilst the improved PGM price environment may justify extending the operating lives of some of these operations, thereby mitigating the impact on job losses, a number of shafts have finite reserves and derive limited benefit from higher PGM basket prices,” Sibanye said.</p>



<p>Platinum prices are up 15% this year, while those of sister metal palladium are nearly 17% higher.</p>



<p>Froneman said a supportive precious metals price and a positive operational outlook would benefit earnings and cash flow in the second half, enabling it to pay down debt and possibly resume cash dividends payments in 2020.</p>



<p>Sibanye last paid a dividend in February 2016.</p>



<p>The firm said debt reduction will continue to be a priority after it was delayed by the impact of this year’s strike on its South African gold business.</p>



<p>Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Susan Fenton, Kirsten Donovan</p>


Sibanye-Stillwater in talks over potential acquisition of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine

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<p>The largest union in the platinum sector, AMCU held a press briefing this morning for an update on the ongoing platinum wage negotiations and the upcoming Marikana Massacre commemoration. CNBC Africa reporter Karabo Letlhatlha spoke to Amcu President, Joseph Mathunjwa.</p>


Mining companies cannot plead poverty, says Amcu President Joseph Mathunjwa

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<p>The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union is demanding R17 000 per month for its employees in the platinum sector. The fresh wage talk demand is in contrast to the many years of a promised R12 500 monthly wage which led to the Marikana massacre in 2012, so how sure are they of their demands being met? AMCU president Joseph Manthunjwa had this to say.</p>


Amcu demands R17,000 minimum wage for mine-workers

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<p>Amcu&#8217;s recently marched down the streets of Johannesburg to hand over its list of demands and grievances to Sibanye Stillwater. Joining CNBC Africa for more about the unfolding mining dispute is Thabisile Phumo, Senior Vice President and the Head of Stakeholder Relations at Sibanye-Stillwater.</p>


Sibanye gives update on wage dispute with Amcu

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<p>The ongoing battle between striking members of AMCU and management of Sibanye –Stillwater continues. A number of employees have been injured and others killed following unconfirmed circumstances that are alleged to emanate from the strike action.</p>


Sibanye’s Themba Nkosi gives update on wage dispute with AMCU

<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; A U.S. law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater on behalf of shareholders to recover losses suffered after a spate of deaths at its mines triggered a sharp fall in its share price.</p>
<p>Bernstein Liebhard LLP said in a statement the suit would deal with “misleading statements” made by the precious metals producer, which has had 21 fatalities on its operations so far in 2018, almost half of the total in South Africa’s mining industry.</p>
<p>Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Ed Stoddard</p>


Why US law firm has filed lawsuit against South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater

<p>Precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater arrested nearly 1,400 illegal miners at its South African gold shafts last year in a blitz the company says has mostly ended the practice at its mines.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-44345 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mining_sibanye.jpg" alt="South Africa's Sibanye Gold bids $294 mln for Aquarius Platinum" width="450" height="272" /></p>
<p class="">Illegal gold mining has plagued South Africa for decades and it costs the government and the industry more than 20 billion rand ($1.7 billion) a year in lost sales, taxes and royalties, according to a Chamber of Mines report last year.</p>
<p class="">Sibanye Chief Executive Neal Froneman vowed last year to take the war to illegal miners and clear them from its shafts by January 2018 under the battle cry “Zero Zama”, after the Zulu term for illegal miners.</p>
<p class="">According to data provided to Reuters by Sibanye, it made 797 arrests in 2017 linked to illegal mining at its Cooke operations and 1,383 overall. The blitz peaked in June with more than 500 arrests, above the 443 arrests in 2016 as a whole.</p>
<p class="">While Sibanye fell short of its goal of stamping out illegal mining altogether, Sibanye’s head of security Nash Lutchman said based on available intelligence, “there are only about 40 to 50 illegal miners operating now, scattered across our Kloof and Driefontein operations”.</p>
<p class="">Froneman said last year the number of illegal miners in the company’s gold operations numbered “in the thousands”. Sibanye was the first South African gold miner to set itself a deadline to stop the practice.</p>
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<p class="">Most zamas are undocumented immigrants from neighbouring countries who have long provided migrant labour for South Africa’s mines, but are now being laid off. The syndicates that support them and traffic the illegal metals are well-funded, well-established and highly dangerous, security experts say.</p>
<p class="">‘END OF STAGE ONE’</p>
<p class="">Sibanye’s drive was helped by the mothballing of its loss-making Cooke operation west of Johannesburg, which was the epicentre of illegal mining activity in its shafts.</p>
<p class="">Illegal miners gain access to working gold mines through bribery and other means, forcing companies to dispatch security teams to the shafts and to tighten entrance measures.</p>
<p class="">Sibanye spent 300 million rand last year and will spend another 300 million rand this year on access and biometric controls at the entry points to its gold mines.</p>
<p class="">“It still costs us so I don’t know if we will ever declare a victory but we are at the end of stage one,” Froneman told Reuters.</p>
<p class="">“My biggest concern about illegal mining is the corruption of our supervisors and our employees. That just sets a path for creating a rotten organisation. Everybody gets bribed and the integrity of the business just gets undermined,” he said.</p>
<p class="">Froneman admitted there was no guarantee illegal miners would not try to return, so the company needed to maintain its costly vigilance.</p>
<p class="">Security experts have said Sibanye would struggle to eradicate illegal mining completely but could reduce it by 90 percent.</p>
<p class="">Sibanye is the second South African gold producer to announce a milestone linked to illegal mining this month.</p>
<p class="">AngloGold Ashanti said it would spend up to $500 million to mechanise its Obuasi mine in Ghana.</p>
<p class="">The gold mine was rendered worthless when it was invaded by thousands of illegal miners. They were removed by the military last year and the South African company decided to revive the mine as an automated operation after a feasibility study.</p>
<p class="">($1 = 11.5400 rand)</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw">Editing by James Macharia and David Clarke</p>
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Sibanye says clears most illegal miners from gold shafts

<p>South Africa’s precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has agreed to buy Lonmin in an all-share deal, valuing the troubled platinum producer at about 285 million pounds ($382 million), the two companies said on Thursday.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-9751 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/mining_3_-path_finder.jpg" alt="Lonmin begins its post-strike rebuilding process" width="1262" height="845" /></p>
<p data-reactid="40">Lonmin, the world’s third biggest platinum producer, has faced the combined pressures of low platinum prices and challenges of operating in South Africa, where laying off workers to improve profitability is a fraught issue.</p>
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<p>Its share price in London was up 18 percent by 0822 GMT, while Sibanye-Stillwater’s fell 2.6 percent in Johannesburg trade.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">“The flexibility inherent in the larger regional PGM (platinum group metals) footprint will create a more robust business, better able to withstand volatile PGM prices and exchange rates,” Neal Froneman, chief executive officer of Sibanye-Stillwater, said in a statement.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">He said the acquisition would “deliver longer term benefits for all stakeholders.”</p>
<p data-reactid="45">Under the offer, each Lonmin Shareholder will receive 0.967 new Sibanye-Stillwater shares for each Lonmin share, the companies said in their statement.</p>
<p data-reactid="46">Following the completion of the deal Lonmin shareholders will hold around 11.3 percent of the enlarged group.</p>
<p data-reactid="47">“Doubtless welcome news to long suffering Lonmin shareholders averting the need to dig into their pockets once again to refinance the company in its regular three to four year refinancing cycle,” Marc Elliott, analyst at Investec bank said.</p>
<p data-reactid="48">He added Sibanye management could get the most value from Lonmin’s smelting and refining assets and could also be betting on a rebound in the price of platinum group metals.</p>
<p data-reactid="49">Lonmin’s share price has halved this year because of uncertainty about the future of a company, which has repeatedly called on its investors for cash.</p>
<p>In November, Reuters reported on its array of measures to save cash after it delayed its annual financial results pending conclusion of a business review.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="51">Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru and Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Adrian Croft.</p>
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South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater to buy troubled platinum producer Lonmin

<p data-reactid="39">South African mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said on Monday production has started three months ahead of schedule at its Montana-based Blitz project, boosting its platinum group metals (PGM) production in the United States.</p>
<p data-reactid="40">The project is expected to produce approximately 300,000 ounces annually by late 2021/early 2022, increasing total PGM production from Sibanye’s U.S. operations by more than 50 percent to around 850,000 ounces.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">“The operations continue to deliver as anticipated and first production from Blitz is more than three months ahead of schedule,” CEO Neal Froneman said in a statement.</p>
<p data-reactid="42">Work on the Blitz project, which began in 2010, is adjacent to the Stillwater mine and is expected to extend that mine’s underground infrastructure to the east of the current operations, the company said on its website.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">Sibanye acquired sole U.S. platinum miner Stillwater, the largest primary producer of PGM’s outside South Africa and Russia, in May 2017 in a $2.2 billion deal.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="45">Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; editing by Ed Stoddard and Jason Neely</p>
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Sibanye to boost PGM production as U.S. project comes online

<p>South African precious metals producer Sibanye Gold aims to resume production at its strike-hit Cooke Mine later this week, but first plans to conduct safety inspections in the shafts on Monday.</p>
<p>A company spokesman also said the company needed to wrap up an appeals process for around 1,500 miners who face possible dismissal for taking part in a violent wildcat strike that started almost three weeks ago in protest against a company drive to root out illegal miners.</p>
<p>Illegal gold mining has plagued South Africa for decades, with bullion pilfered from both disused and operating mines, and Sibanye has vowed it will clear all illegal miners from its shafts by January 2018.</p>
<p>&#8220;We hope to have the appeals process done by the middle of the week and then we can resume production later this week,&#8221; company spokesman James Wellsted said.</p>
<p>Workers at the mine downed tools over resentment at the company crackdown against illegal miners, which has included the arrest of employees for collusion and a ban on taking food underground.</p>
<p>Underscoring the scale of the problem, 461 illegal miners have been arrested at Cooke since the stoppage began.</p>
<p>They have been forced to come to the surface because of the strike, which has emptied the shafts of employees, thereby starving them of their sources of food and water underground &#8211; an unintended consequence of the strike.</p>
<p>Located about 60 kms (35 miles) south-west of Johannesburg, the Cooke mine produces about 181,700 ounces of gold a year and brings in around 377 million rand ($29 million) in operating profit, or just over 6 percent of the group&#8217;s total.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Mark Potter)</p>


South Africa’s Sibanye Gold aims to restart Cooke mine this week

<p>South Africa&#8217;s Sibanye Gold will tap shareholders for funds at a discount of 60 percent in a $1 billion rights issue, the mining company said on Thursday.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Sibanye will use the rights issue to repay a portion of a $2.65 billion loan facility it used to acquire U.S. platinum producer Stillwater.</p>
<p>The company will offer new shares at 11.28 rand each, a discount of 60 percent to its closing price on May 17, it said in a statement.</p>
<p>Shares in Sibanye fell more than 6 percent after the announcement, but narrowed losses to 2.3 percent at 27.83 rand by 1003 GMT, compared with a 0.5 percent gain in the Johannesburg Securities Exchange&#8217;s gold mining index.</p>
<p>Sibanye, a portfolio of South African gold mines spun out of Gold Fields in 2013, has bought several platinum mines in its home market. Stillwater is its first foreign venture.</p>
<p>(Reporting by TJ Strydom; editing by Jason Neely)</p>


Sibanye Gold finalises $1 bln rights issue at 60% discount

<p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><em>Ruling brings final certaintly on binding nature of the extended 2013 wage agreement.</em></p>
<p>The Chamber of Mines, acting on behalf of gold producers AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye, welcomes the ruling by the Constitutional Court in favour of the gold producers.</p>
<p>The ruling relates to the decision by the Labour Court on 23 June 2014 to uphold the interim order issued on an urgent basis by the Labour Court in January 2014, preventing Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) from embarking on protected strike action in respect of wages and other conditions of service on the basis that AMCU was bound by the collective agreement reached for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015.</p>
<p>At the time the agreement was reached, AMCU represented 17% of employees in the sector. The agreement was extended by AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye to AMCU and its members in terms of Section 23(1)d of the Labour Relations Act.</p>
<p>Speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Mines, Dr Elize Strydom said: “This ruling brings final certainty about the binding nature of the extended 2013 wage agreement reached at a centralised level by way of an inclusive process.” ﻿</p>
<p> </p>


S.A's CoM welcomes ConCourt ruling on gold producers

<p>South Africa&#8217;s Sibanye Gold Ltd said it is considering tapping shareholders for up to $1.3 billion to partly fund a $2.2 billion takeover of Stillwater Mining Co, the only U.S. miner of platinum and palladium.</p>
<p>Sibanye had initially penciled in a minimum of $750 million in rights issue but said on Friday it reconsidered after some shareholders expressed concerns about the company&#8217;s debt levels.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sibanye believes that increasing the equity component would be prudent in the current strong rand environment, allowing the company to maintain a strong balance sheet,&#8221; it said in statement accompanying a half-year trading update.﻿</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>


S.Africa's Sibanye mulls raising equity cash call to fund Stillwater deal

<p>South African gold and platinum producer Sibanye Gold said on Thursday it may have to cut up to 330 jobs in platinum operations it acquired from Anglo American Platinum and Aquarius Platinum.</p>
<p>Job cuts are a thorny issue in South Africa, where the unemployment rate is around 25 percent, income disparities are glaring and unions are known for their militancy. The platinum belt has been a flashpoint of labour unrest and violence.</p>
<p>&#8220;In 2016, Sibanye highlighted approximately 800 million rand ($60 million) in cost and operational synergies that need to be realised between the Kroondal and Rustenburg operations to ensure sustainability,&#8221; Sibanye said in a statement.</p>
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<p>&#8220;The reduction in replicated overhead costs and duplicate structures is a critical first step in realising these synergies,&#8221; the company said.</p>
<p>Union officials could not immediately be reached for comment.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


South Africa's Sibanye may lay off over 330 platinum workers

<p>South Africa&#8217;s Sibanye Gold will pay $2.2 billion for U.S.-based Stillwater Mining, Sibanye said on Friday, extending its push into platinum group metals.</p>
<p>Sibanye has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Stillwater Mining for $18.00 per share in cash, a 23 percent premium on the firm&#8217;s closing price on Thursday, the South African firm said in a statement.</p>
<p>Sibanye, a bullion miner that was spun off from Gold Fields in 2013, last year bought Aquarius Platinum and Anglo American Platinum&#8217;s mines in Rustenburg, but the Stillwater deal will be its first venture beyond South Africa.</p>
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<p>Stillwater, which operates in the state of Montana, is the only U.S. miner of platinum group metals (PGM) and the largest primary producer of PGMs outside South Africa and Russia.</p>
<p>&#8220;The transaction represents a transformational opportunity for Sibanye to acquire high-quality, low-cost, PGM assets at a favourable point in the cycle,” said Sibanye Chief Executive Neal Froneman.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Sibanye

Sibanye CEO on Marikana restructuring, PGM outlook & self-generation of power

Sibanye-Stillwater in talks over potential acquisition of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine

Mining companies cannot plead poverty, says Amcu President Joseph Mathunjwa

Amcu demands R17,000 minimum wage for mine-workers

Sibanye gives update on wage dispute with Amcu

Sibanye’s Themba Nkosi gives update on wage dispute with AMCU

Why US law firm has filed lawsuit against South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater

Sibanye says clears most illegal miners from gold shafts

South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater to buy troubled platinum producer Lonmin

Sibanye to boost PGM production as U.S. project comes online

South Africa’s Sibanye Gold aims to restart Cooke mine this week

Sibanye Gold finalises $1 bln rights issue at 60% discount

S.A's CoM welcomes ConCourt ruling on gold producers

S.Africa's Sibanye mulls raising equity cash call to fund Stillwater deal

South Africa's Sibanye may lay off over 330 platinum workers

South Africa's Sibanye Gold to buy Stillwater Mining

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Sibanye

Sibanye CEO on Marikana restructuring, PGM outlook & self-generation of power

Sibanye-Stillwater in talks over potential acquisition of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine

Mining companies cannot plead poverty, says Amcu President Joseph Mathunjwa

Amcu demands R17,000 minimum wage for mine-workers

Sibanye gives update on wage dispute with Amcu

Sibanye’s Themba Nkosi gives update on wage dispute with AMCU

Why US law firm has filed lawsuit against South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater

Sibanye says clears most illegal miners from gold shafts

South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater to buy troubled platinum producer Lonmin

Sibanye to boost PGM production as U.S. project comes online

South Africa’s Sibanye Gold aims to restart Cooke mine this week

Sibanye Gold finalises $1 bln rights issue at 60% discount

S.A's CoM welcomes ConCourt ruling on gold producers

S.Africa's Sibanye mulls raising equity cash call to fund Stillwater deal

South Africa's Sibanye may lay off over 330 platinum workers

South Africa's Sibanye Gold to buy Stillwater Mining

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