TAILINGS RETREATMENT
Sibanye trades assets for stake in DRDGold
The unfettered growth ambitions of Sibanye-Stillwater were further in evidence on Wednesday, when the gold and platinum group metals miner vended assets into DRDGold in exchange for a 38% stake in the tailings retreatment specialist worth R1.3bn. Sibanye put its vast West Rand tailings retreatment project on the backburner earlier in 2017, citing uncertainty about the unsettled and hostile regulatory environment and possible sovereign ratings downgrades, making cost and revenue forecasts near impossible. This meant the board and shareholders would never consent to it spending about R4bn on a big-bang approach on the project rather than the conservative and phased approach DRDGold will take. Most of the gold assets in the tailings retreatment project form part of the DRDGold transaction, which will entail building a large processing plant to handle a million tonnes a month and a tailings storage facility, which could act as a magnet to consolidate more dumps west of Johannesburg. The...
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