Sibanye-Stillwater has put its hand on the final big piece to complete its platinum strategy and will now look outside SA’s borders to grow in gold and silver, consolidating its position as a precious metals company. Since listing in 2013, Sibanye has done eight deals in gold and platinum group metals (PGMs) worth more than R45bn, rapidly growing into a formidable mining company in the PGM space and the largest producer of South African gold. Its appetite for deals remains undimmed despite the hefty debt incurred in the $2.2bn cash purchase of US palladium and platinum miner and recycler Stillwater Mining. The board concedes it can do no more deals for cash until it has significantly reduced debt levels over the next two years, using cash flows from its mines in SA, Zimbabwe and the US. What Sibanye can use — and has just done with its R5bn offer for Lonmin — is its equity. If concluded as anticipated in the second half of 2018, the deal will give Lonmin shareholders 11.3% of Sibany...
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