Sibanye-Stillwater celebrates the foundation stone laying of the Keliber lithium refinery in Finland
Johannesburg, 11 May 2023: Sibanye-Stillwater (Tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW) is pleased to announce that at a ceremony held at the Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP) in Finland today, it laid the foundation stone of the Keliber lithium refinery. The earthworks for the Keliber lithium refinery commenced on 7 March 2023, with pleasing progress to date.
The laying of the foundation stone marks the ceremonial launch of the Keliber lithium project, which is expected to supply the first integrated, regionally produced lithium into the European green energy ecosystem. The competitive regional positioning of this project, with its strong ESG credentials, is set to deliver the greenest primary lithium into the growing European battery market.
Approximately €231million of the €588 million estimated total capital expenditure for the Keliber lithium project (excluding sustaining capital), is planned for investment during 2023. Following completion of the recent rights issue, the required funding for 2023 is in place, with the remaining project capital expected to be debt financed.
Sibanye-Stillwater currently owns approximately 79% of the Keliber project while the Finnish Minerals Group (which manages the Finnish State’s mining industry shareholdings), owns 20%.
Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater said “It is a central part of Sibanye-Stillwater’s business ethos to create superior shared value for all our stakeholders. In addition to delivering critical green metals into the European ecosystem, the Keliber lithium project is expected to provide employment for over 300 people over its current expected life of 16 years. The project will also create new opportunities for local suppliers of goods and services, and is acknowledged as a significant contributor to the growth of the local economy in future.”
About Sibanye-Stillwater
Sibanye-Stillwater is a multinational mining and metals processing group with a diverse portfolio of operations, projects and investments across five continents. The Group is also one of the foremost global recyclers of PGM autocatalysts and has interests in leading mine tailings retreatment operations.
Sibanye-Stillwater has established itself as one of the world’s largest primary producers of platinum, palladium, and rhodium and is a top tier gold producer. It also produces and refines iridium and ruthenium, nickel, chrome, copper and cobalt. The Group has recently begun to build and diversify its asset portfolio into battery metals mining and processing and is increasing its presence in the circular economy by growing and diversifying its recycling and tailings reprocessing operations globally. For more information refer to www.sibanyestillwater.com.
Keliber is an advanced lithium project, located in Kaustinen and Kokkola, Finland. Keliber aims to be the first European producer of battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its own mined ore reserves. Keliber is a subsidiary of Sibanye-Stillwater, a multinational mining and metals processing Group, with Finnish Minerals Group as the second largest shareholder, a state-owned company developing the value chain of lithium-ion batteries.
Investor relations contact:
Email: ir@sibanyestillwater.com
James Wellsted, Executive Vice President: Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs
Tel: +27 (0) 83 453 4014
Website: www.sibanyestillwater.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sibanyestillwater/videos
Local stakeholder inquiries:
Hannu Hautala, CEO of Keliber, tel. +358 40 712 2432, hannu.hautala@keliber.fi
Sponsor: J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa Proprietary Limited
DISCLAIMER
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information in this document may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbour” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including, among others, those relating to Sibanye Stillwater Limited’s (Sibanye-Stillwater or the Group) financial positions, business strategies, plans and objectives of management for future operations, are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the senior management and directors of Sibanye-Stillwater and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. As a consequence, these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in this announcement.
All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this document may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also often use words such as “will”, “would”, “expect”, “forecast”, “potential”, “may”, “could”, “believe”, “aim”, “anticipate”, “target”, “estimate” and words of similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances and should be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in this disclaimer. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements.
The important factors that could cause Sibanye-Stillwater’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Sibanye-Stillwater’s future financial position, plans, strategies, objectives, capital expenditures, projected costs and anticipated cost savings, financing plans, debt position and ability to reduce debt leverage; economic, business, political and social conditions in South Africa, Zimbabwe, the United States and elsewhere; plans and objectives of management for future operations; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to obtain the benefits of any streaming arrangements or pipeline financing; the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to comply with loan and other covenants and restrictions and difficulties in obtaining additional financing or refinancing; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to service its bond instruments; changes in assumptions underlying Sibanye-Stillwater’s estimation of its Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves; any failure of a tailings storage facility; the ability to achieve anticipated efficiencies and other cost savings in connection with, and the ability to successfully integrate, past, ongoing and future acquisitions, as well as at existing operations; the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to complete any ongoing or future acquisitions; the success of Sibanye-Stillwater’s business strategy and exploration and development activities, including any proposed, anticipated or planned expansions into the battery metals or adjacent sectors and estimations or expectations of enterprise value (including the Rhyolite Ridge project); the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to comply with requirements that it operate in ways that provide progressive benefits to affected communities; changes in the market price of gold, PGMs, battery metals (e.g., nickel, lithium, copper and zinc) and the cost of power, petroleum fuels, and oil, among other commodities and supply requirements; the occurrence of hazards associated with underground and surface mining; any further downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating; the impact of South Africa's greylisting; a challenge regarding the title to any of Sibanye-Stillwater’s properties by claimants to land under restitution and other legislation; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to implement its strategy and any changes thereto; the outcome of legal challenges to the Group’s mining or other land use rights; the occurrence of labour disputes, disruptions and industrial actions; the availability, terms and deployment of capital or credit; changes in the imposition of industry standards, regulatory costs and relevant government regulations, particularly environmental, sustainability, tax, health and safety regulations and new legislation affecting water, mining, mineral rights and business ownership, including any interpretation thereof which may be subject to dispute; the outcome and consequence of any potential or pending litigation or regulatory proceedings, including in relation to any environmental, health or safety issues; failure to meet ethical standards, including actual or alleged instances of fraud, bribery or corruption; the effect of climate change or other extreme weather events on Sibanye-Stillwater’s business; the concentration of all final refining activity and a large portion of Sibanye-Stillwater’s PGM sales from mine production in the United States with one entity; the identification of a material weakness in disclosure and internal controls over financial reporting; the effect of US tax reform legislation on Sibanye-Stillwater and its subsidiaries; the effect of South African Exchange Control Regulations on Sibanye-Stillwater’s financial flexibility; operating in new geographies and regulatory environments where Sibanye-Stillwater has no previous experience; power disruptions, constraints and cost increases; supply chain disruptions and shortages and increases in the price of production inputs; the regional concentration of Sibanye-Stillwater’s operations; fluctuations in exchange rates, currency devaluations, inflation and other macro-economic monetary policies; the occurrence of temporary stoppages or precautionary suspension of operations at its mines for safety or environmental incidents (including natural disasters) and unplanned maintenance; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to hire and retain senior management and employees with sufficient technical and/or production skills across its global operations necessary to meet its labour recruitment and retention goals, as well as its ability to achieve sufficient representation of historically disadvantaged South Africans in its management positions; failure of Sibanye-Stillwater’s information technology, communications and systems; the adequacy of Sibanye-Stillwater’s insurance coverage; social unrest, sickness or natural or man-made disaster at informal settlements in the vicinity of some of Sibanye-Stillwater’s South African-based operations; and the impact of HIV, tuberculosis and the spread of other contagious diseases, such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Sibanye-Stillwater are described in Sibanye-Stillwater’s filings with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the 2022 Integrated Report and the annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2022.
These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the content. Sibanye-Stillwater expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement (except to the extent legally required). These forward-looking statements have not been reviewed or reported on by the Group’s external auditors.
NON-IFRS MEASURES
The information contained in this document may contain certain non-IFRS measures, including adjusted EBITDA, AISC, AIC and Nickel equivalent sustaining cost. These measures may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures used by other companies and are not measures of Sibanye-Stillwater’s financial performance under IFRS. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Sibanye-Stillwater is not providing a reconciliation of the forecast non-IFRS financial information presented in this report because it is unable to provide this reconciliation without unreasonable effort. These forecast non-IFRS financial information presented have not been reviewed or reported on by the Group’s external auditors.
MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINERAL RESERVES
Sibanye-Stillwater’s Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are estimates at a particular date, and are affected by fluctuations in mineral prices, the exchange rates, operating costs, mining permits, changes in legislation and operating factors. Sibanye-Stillwater reports its Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by each of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the JSE at all managed operations, development, and exploration properties. Sibanye-Stillwater expects to file the information required by Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1933, including a Technical Report Summary in respect of the Keliber project, with its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2022.
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