Sibanye trades depleted gold shaft for cash and uranium exposure

Neo Energy Metals

09/12/2024 14:42

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Diversified miner Sibanye Stillwater
 SSWJ.J  on Monday said it has agreed to sell its Beatrix 4
shaft for 500 million rand ($28 million) in cash and shares to
uranium exploration company Neo Energy Metals  NEON.L .
    The Johannesburg-based company placed the shaft under care
and maintenance in 2023 due to depleted gold reserves. The Free
State mine also includes Sibanye's Beisa uranium project, which
holds an estimated 27 million pounds of the mineral used to
generate nuclear power, according to the company's resource
estimates.
    Sibanye said in a statement the deal is comprised of 250
million rand in cash while the other half is in shares equal to
40% of United Kingdom-based Neo Energy. Sibanye will also
receive a royalty on all uranium sold from the Beisa uranium
project up to a maximum $5 a pound.
    "Sibanye-Stillwater will retain exposure to both the Beisa
uranium project and a listed junior uranium company," the
company said.
    The transaction also "immediately crystallises value for
Sibanye Stillwater shareholders and fast-tracks the possible
development of the Beisa uranium project, without extending the
group balance sheet", it added.
    Neo Energy's assets include the Henkries projects in South
Africa's Northern Cape province as well as the Beisa North and
Beisa South projects in the Free State.
    Sibanye, which has platinum group metal assets in South
Africa, Zimbabwe and the United States, also mines gold in South
Africa. It has recently diversified into battery metals lithium
and nickel.
    Along its PGM-producing peers Anglo American Platinum
 AMSJ.J  and Impala Platinum  IMPJ.J , Sibanye has been
restructuring its business in response to the sharp decline in
the prices of the metals used to curb vehicle emissions.
 ($1 = 17.7999 rand)

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))