South African giant pulls out of US mine

Sibanye-Stillwater will no longer participate in the creation of a mine in Nevada, USA, as the expected investment returns will not reach the miner’s required level.

The group has announced that it will not proceed with the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project with Australian-based Ioneer.

In September 2021, Sibanye reached an agreement with Ioneer to establish a joint venture company concerning Rhyolite Ridge.

According to Ioneer, Rhyolite Ridge would be a low-cost lithium site due to the valuable boron co-product and its cost-saving measures.

Over its 26-year lifetime, Rhyolite Ridge was expected to help power upward of 50 million electric vehicles.

As per the 2021 agreement, the completion of the joint venture was subject to various conditions
precedent under the joint venture agreement, which has since seen several amendments.

The conditions include a final investment decision from the board affirming its commitment to proceed with the project.

In October 2024, Sibanye received updated project and technical information from ioneer in the form of a technical report summary and other updated technical reports.

Following a review and due diligence checks on the information, Sibanye’s board resolved not to proceed with Rhyolite Ridge.

The group said that, among other things, the project did meet its investment hurdle rates at a prudent
pricing assumptions.

An investment hurdle rate is the minimum rate of return required for an investor to receive the green light to proceed.

The group shared the information with ioneer, which it currently has a 6.91% equity stake in.