Sibanye Stillwater Limited
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa Registration number 2014/243852/06
Share codes: SSW (JSE) and SBSW (NYSE) ISIN - ZAE000259701
Issuer code: SSW
("Sibanye-Stillwater","the Company" and/or "the Group")
Registered Address:
Constantia Office Park
Bridgeview House • Building 11 • Ground Floor Cnr 14th Avenue & Hendrik Potgieter Road Weltevreden Park • 1709
Postal Address:
Private Bag X5 • Westonaria • 1780
Tel +27 11 278 9600 • Fax +27 11 278 9863
Website:www.sibanyestillwater.com
MARKET RELEASE
Sibanye-Stillwater Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves declaration as at 31 December 2020
Johannesburg, 15 February 2021: Sibanye-Stillwater (Tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW) is pleased to report attributable Group Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves as at 31 December 2020.
Salient features
• A 40% increase in 4E Platinum group metals (PGM) Mineral Reserves at the SA PGM operations to 39.5M 4Eoz, primarily due to the inclusion of the Marikana K4 project (12.7 M 4Eoz) and the Klipfontein opencast project (0.1M 4Eoz) following detailed feasibility studies.
• A 7% (5.8Moz) increase in 2E PGM Mineral Resources, with additional Mineral Reserves of 0.8M 2E PGM ounces defined at East Boulder Mine replacing combined depletion of 0.7M 2Eoz during 2020. Combined stable Mineral Reserves of 26.9M 2Eoz at the US PGM operations.
• Stable Mineral Reserves of 11.3Moz at the SA gold operations, with depletion of 1.0 Moz for 2020 off-set by
− an 0.8Moz increase in attributable Mineral Reserves from DRDGOLD due to the increase in Sibanye-
Stillwater's shareholding in DRDGOLD from 38.05 to 50.1%,
− an additional 0.2Moz Mineral Reserves derived from secondary reef exploration programmes at the
Driefontein operation.
• Mineral Resources at the SA gold operations decreased by 15.9Moz, primarily due to the exclusion of Below Infrastructure Mineral Resources at Driefontein
The declared Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves for our managed operations and projects are the outcome of a detailed annual operational and life of mine (LoM) planning process and are indicative of the considerable underlying mineral assets base which supports sustainable and robust long-life production.
This Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource declaration represents a condensed and consolidated summary of the full Sibanye-Stillwater Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve declaration available in the Group Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Report, which will be published on 22 April 2021 and will be available atwww.sibanyestillwater.com/news-investors/reports/annual/.
• | Group overview | ||
Tonnes | Grade | 2E/4E1 | |
PGM operations | |||
(Mt) | (g/t) | (Moz) | |
US | 178.7 | 15.1 | 86.9 |
SA | 1,535.4 | 4.4 | 217.1 |
Total PGM operations | 1,714.1 | 5.5 | 304.0 |
Mineral Resources | ||||
31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | 31-Dec-19 | ||
2E/4E1 | Tonnes | Grade | 2E/4E1 | 2E/4E1 |
(Moz) | (Mt) | (g/t) | (Moz) | (Moz) |
81.1 | 58.2 | 14.4 | 26.9 | 26.9 |
218.0 | 369.7 | 3.3 | 39.5 | 28.2 |
299.1 | 427.9 | 4.8 | 66.4 | 55.1 |
Mineral Resources 31-Dec-20
Mineral Reserves
31-Dec-20
TonnesGrade
2E/4E
2E/4ETonnesGrade
2E/4E
2E/4EPGM projects
(g/t)
(Mt)
(g/t)
Americas SA
Total projects Total PGMGold operations
68.4 618.8 687.2 2,401.2 Tonnes
(Mt)
0.8 4.3 4.0 5.1 Grade (g/t)
1.7 86.0 87.7 391.7 Gold (Moz)
3.1 86.8 89.9 389.0 Gold (Moz)
427.9 Tonnes
(Mt)
4.8 Grade (g/t)
66.4 Gold (Moz)
55.1 Gold (Moz)SA underground SA surface
Total operations
Gold projects
205.9 579.8 785.7 Tonnes
(Mt)
8.4 0.3 2.4 Grade (g/t)
55.3 5.3 60.6 Gold (Moz)
72.6 3.9 76.5 Gold (Moz)
42.5 285.8 328.3 Tonnes
(Mt)
6.0 0.3 1.1 Grade (g/t)
8.3 3.0 11.3 Gold (Moz)
9.0 2.3 11.3 Gold (Moz)SA USTotal projects Total Gold
377.0 2,638.7 3,015.6 3,790.0
1.6 0.1
0.27 0.70
19.7 6.51 26.2 85.6
21.5
33.9
3.9
4.3
4.0
6.6 28.1 104.6
33.9 362.2
3.9 3.9
4.3 15.5
4.0 15.4
Uranium at gold operations
(Mt)
Grade (kg/t)
U3O8 (Mlb)
U3O8 (Mlb)
Tonnes
(Mt)
Grade (kg/t)
U3O8 (Mlb)
U308 (Mlb)SATotal operations
1.1
11.4
1.1
27.0
27.0
- -- -
- -
- -
Uranium projects
(Mt)
Grade (kg/t)
(Mlb)
Tonnes
(Mlb)
(Mt)Grade (kg/t)
(Mlb)
(Mlb)SA
Total projects Total Uranium
262.3 262.3 273.7
0.1 0.1 0.1
51.7 51.7 78.7
51.7 51.7 78.7
- - -- - -- - -- - -
TonnesGradeCopperCopperTonnesGradeCopper projects
Coppe rCopperUS
Total Copper
2,704.6 2,704.6
(%)
0.3 0.3
18,439.5 18,439.5
(Mt)
(%)
18,711.5
18,711.5
1For the US PGM operations, the 2E is represented by Pt and Pd 2For the SA PGM operations, the 4E is represented Pt, Pd, Rh and Au 3Numbers may not appear additive due to rounding
The Group complies with both the JSE and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines on commodity prices used in the estimation of Mineral Reserves at all managed operations and projects. An average exchange rate of R15.00/US$ (2019: R14.50/US$) and the commodity prices illustrated below were used in the estimation process:
31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | |||||
Precious metals | US$/oz | R/oz | R/kg | US$/oz | R/oz | R/kg |
Gold Platinum Palladium Rhodium Iridium Ruthenium | 1,500 | 22,500 | 720,000 | 1,300 | 18,850 | 610,000 |
880 | 13,200 | 424,389 | 887 | 12,862 | 413,506 | |
1,600 | 24,000 | 771,617 | 1,123 | 16,284 | 523,526 | |
5,650 | 84,750 | 2,724,772 | 3,600 | 52,200 | 1,678,267 | |
1,450 | 21,750 | 699,278 | 1,247 | 18,082 | 581,333 | |
260 | 3,900 | 125,388 | 200 | 2,900 | 93,237 | |
Base metals | US$/lb | US$/tonne | R/tonne | US$/lb | US$/tonne | R/tonne |
31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | |||||
Nickel Copper Cobalt Uranium oxide (U3O8)1 Chromium oxide (Cr2O3)2, (42% concentrate)1 | 5.90 | 13,000 | 195,000 | 6.33 | 13,955 | 183,454 |
2.72 | 6,000 | 90,000 | 3.14 | 6,923 | 91,133 | |
15.00 | 33,069 | 496,040 | 28.00 | 61,729 | 895,076 | |
32.00 | 70,548 | 960,000 | 32.00 | 70,548 | 1,022,944 | |
0.07 | 160 | 2,400 | 0.07 | 165 | 2,393 |
1,2 Long term contract price
During the course of 2020, and continuing into 2021, the basket of precious metal prices has shown strong appreciation, with the gold price driven in part by renewed sentiment for investment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also due to PGM prices being supported by robust fundamentals and a quicker than anticipated recovery in vehicle demand after the initial COVID-19 demand impact.
Spot rhodium and palladium prices have exceeded US$20,000/oz and US$2,400/oz respectively during 2021, resulting in a basket price in excess of R45,000/4Eoz at the SA PGM operations, and over US$2,000/2Eoz at the US PGM operations. These basket prices represent margins in excess of 100% of our assumed reserve prices.
The gold price averaged between US$1,800 and US$2,000 for the majority of 2020, which combined with the ZAR/USD exchange rate which briefly peaked at around R19.00/US$ in early April 2020, resulted in the rand gold price of around R1,000,000/kg for approximately seven months during mid-2020. The current spot price of ~R900,000/kg compares favourably to the gold reserve price used of R720,000/kg, representing a 25% margin. The table below illustrates the spot margins over the Mineral Reserve prices.
Precious metals Prill Split | Reserve price | Spot price (2020/02/12) | Margin |
Gold | 1,500 | 1,816 | 21% |
Platinum | 880 | 1,209 | 37% |
Palladium | 1,600 | 2,272 | 42% |
Rhodium | 5,650 | 19,300 | 241% |
Source: Kitco (bid price)
The relevant metal (prill) split exposure of our operations to these margins are summarised below.
2E Prill split (US PGM operations) | Unit | Stillwater Mine | East Boulder Mine | Average |
Platinum | % | 22.17 | 21.73 | 22.01 |
Palladium | % | 77.83 | 78.27 | 77.99 |
6E Prill split (SA PGM operations) | Unit | Rustenburg | Kroondal | Marikana | Mimosa | ||
MER | UG2 | UG2 | MER | UG2 | MSZ | ||
Platinum | % | 59.76 | 46.00 | 47.20 | 57.21 | 47.93 | 45.80 |
Palladium | % | 25.57 | 29.04 | 25.71 | 25.73 | 23.31 | 35.70 |
Rhodium | % | 3.73 | 8.55 | 8.45 | 3.06 | 9.02 | 3.90 |
Gold | % | 4.61 | 0.68 | 0.59 | 6.49 | 0.46 | 7.40 |
Ruthenium | % | 3.23 | 12.65 | 14.42 | 6.40 | 15.50 | 3.20 |
Iridium | % | 3.11 | 3.09 | 3.64 | 1.11 | 3.78 | 4.00 |
MER - Merensky Reef
UG2 - Upper Group 2 Chromitite MSZ - Main Sulphide Zone
Group Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves per segment
• US PGM operations
− Total 2E PGM Mineral Resources of 86.9Moz, increased by 7% year-on-year
− Total 2E PGM Mineral Reserves of 26.9Moz, was unchanged
Mineral Resources | Mineral Reserves | |||||||
31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | 31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | |||||
PGM operations | Tonnes | Grade | 2E | 2E | Tonnes | Grade | 2E | 2E |
(Mt) | (g/t) | (Moz) | (Moz) | (Mt) | (g/t) | (Moz) | (Moz) | |
Stillwater | 86.5 | 17.4 | 48.3 | 48.2 | 31.0 | 15.9 | 15.9 | 16.7 |
East Boulder | 92.2 | 13.0 | 38.6 | 32.9 | 27.2 | 12.6 | 11.0 | 10.2 |
Total US PGM operations | 178.7 | 15.1 | 86.9 | 81.1 | 58.2 | 14.4 | 26.9 | 26.9 |
Note: 2E PGM = Pt (78%) + Pd (22%)
The growth in the Mineral Resource was driven by a combination of positive drilling results at East Boulder; as well as a lowering of the cut-off grade at the East Boulder Mine, driven primarily by the increase in the palladium Mineral Reserve price assumption.
Overall Mineral Reserves remained largely unchanged, with a slight decrease at the Stillwater mine (Including the Blitz Project) of 0.8moz due to reduced Resource to Reserve definition drilling. This was off-set by an increase at East Boulder, based on the positive drilling results. At the Blitz project, Mineral Reserve definition drilling continues to underpin the project assumptions made.
A detailed reconciliation of 2019 to 2020 US PGM operations Mineral Reserves is shown in the table below.
US PGM operations - Mineral Reserve reconciliation
Factors | 2E PGM (Moz) |
31-Dec-19 | 26.9 |
Depletion | -0.7 |
Area Inclusions/Exclusions | 0.1 |
Geological Interpretation | 0.4 |
Modifying factors | -0.6 |
Economic Parameters | 0.8 |
31-Dec-20 | 26.9 |
• Other projects in the Americas
− Total 2E PGM Mineral Resources of 1.7Moz, a decrease of 46%
− Total gold Mineral Resources of 6.6Moz, unchanged
− Total copper Mineral Resources of 18,439.5Mlb, a decrease of 1.5%
2E5 PGM Mineral Resources | Gold (Au) Mineral Resources | Copper (Cu) Mineral Resources | ||||||||
31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | 31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | 31-Dec-20 | 31-Dec-19 | ||||
Projects | Tonnes (Mt) | Grade (g/t) | 2E PGM (Moz) | 2E PGM (Moz) | Grade (g/t) | Au (Moz) | Au (Moz) | Grade (%) | Cu (Mlb) | Cu (Mlb) |
Altar1 | 2,613.9 | 0.1 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 17,931.0 | 17,931.0 | |||
Marathon2&5 | 65.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 307.8 | 645.8 | |||
Denison3&5 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.2 | 0.05 | 0.5 | 0.04 | 0.01 | 1.2 | 66.0 | |
Rio Grande4 | 22.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 134.7 | 134.7 |
1&4100% Attributable, non-managed
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Sibanye Stillwater Limited published this content on 15 February 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 15 February 2021 06:18:00 UTC.