South Africa's Sibanye says new U.S. act offers opportunities (updated)

Ioneer

25/08/2022 07:50

* New U.S. law will impact battery materials
    * Sibanye would consider more U.S. assets if value accretive
-CEO 
    * Company confident Nevada project will clear hurdles
    * H1 earnings down 50% hurt by strikes, floods

 (Recasts with CEO)
    By Nelson Banya
    Aug 25 (Reuters) - The new U.S. Inflation Reduction Act
offers great opportunities for Sibanye Stillwater's  SSWJ.J 
diversification into battery materials and it may look to add
more such assets, CEO Neal Froneman said on Thursday.
    Enacted this month, it includes climate and clean energy
policies and rules on electric vehicle (EV) battery materials
such as cobalt, lithium, nickel and graphite.
    Sibanye, which started acquiring battery mineral assets in
2021, bought half of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in
the United States last September in a $490 million deal with
Australian-listed ioneer Ltd  INR.AX .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QH34A
    Froneman said Sibanye, which already had platinum group
metal (PGM) operations in Montana, invested in the Rhyolite
Ridge project betting on the U.S ramping up domestic production
of battery metals.
    "We welcome the Inflation Reduction Act and we see a lot of
benefit. Would we like to grow in the U.S.? Absolutely, but that
growth will only be if it's value-accretive and we will look for
those solutions," Froneman said during a results call.
    He added that the forecast economic downturn could present
Sibanye with opportunities for acquisitions.
    Sibanye said it was confident the Rhyolite Ridge project
would overcome regulatory hurdles after ioneer submitted a
revised project plan that sought to assure U.S regulators it
would not impact the rare Tiehms buckwheat flower found in
lithium-rich soils in Nevada.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QX202
    Sibanye reported a 50% slump in its half-year profit on
Thursday, after a three-month strike at its gold mines and
floods at its United States platinum group metal (PGM)
operations cut production.
    Headline earnings per share - the main profit measure in
South Africa - fell to 4.23 rand ($0.2513) from 8.43 rand a year
earlier.
    Production from Sibanye's South African gold operations fell
63%, mainly due to the wage strike between March and June.
    Severe flooding in June at Sibanye's Stillwater mine in
Montana suspended production for seven weeks, resulting in a 23%
decline in production from a year earlier.
    Sibanye also realised lower PGM prices during the just ended
half, compared to historic highs recorded during the first half
of 2021, when the global economic recovery from COVID-19
lockdowns drove demand for the metals.
    The company declared an interim dividend of 1.38 rand per
share.
    ($1 = 16.8336 rand)

 (Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; editing by Rashmi
Aich and Jason Neely)
 ((Sinchita.Mitra@thomsonreuters.com;))