2020 Integrated Report

 

SETTING THE SCENE

Download this section PDF, 3.3MB

“2020 was a defining year for the Group, moving formal deleveraging focus to paying dividends and broader capital allocation.”

In 2020

  • OUTPUT

    3Moz 4E PGMS 0.98Moz gold

  • WORKFORCE OF

    84,775 people

  • ACHIEVED

    13 million fatality-free shifts2

  • NET CASH

    R3.1 billion (US$210 million)

  • MARKET CAPITALISATION

    R175bn
    (US$12 billion)

    at 31 December 2020

SALIENT FEATURES

  • One of the world’s largest primary producers of platinum, palladium and rhodium
  • Top tier gold producer, ranked third globally, on a gold equivalent basis
  • Leading global recycler and processor of spent PGM catalytic converter materials
  • We also produce iridium, ruthenium, chrome, copper and nickel as by-products
  • Listed on the Johannesburg and New York stock exchanges

ESG HIGHLIGHTS

  • Carbon [icon]

    Targeting carbon neutrality by 2040

  • Marikana [logo]

    Progress on the Marikana renewal process

  • Carbon [icon]

    Zero level 4 and 5 environmental incidents

  • Carbon [icon]

    Significant social support to employees and communities during COVID-19

  • Carbon [icon]

    ‘A-’ CDP rating for carbon disclosure and efforts

Our ESG credentials
The indices in which we are currently included are:

  • FTSE/JSE
    Responsible Investment

Our diverse portfolio

US PGM

  • Stillwater (100%)
    Reserves: 15.9Moz 2E
  • East Boulder (100%)
    Reserves: 11.0Moz 2E

  • Our Columbus Metallurgical Complex smelts material mined to produce PGM-rich filter cake and recycles autocatalysts to recover PGMs.

  • Marathon project(6) (26%)
    with Generation Mining (in Canada)
  • Denison project (64.9%)
    with Wallbridge Mining (in Canada)
  • Altar project (40%)
    with Aldebaran (in Argentina)
  • Rio Grande (19.9%)
    with Aldeberan (in Argentina)

SA GOLD

  • Kloof (100%)
    Reserves: 4.6Moz Au
  • Driefontein (100%)
    Reserves: 2.5Moz Au
  • DRDGOLD (50.1%)
    Reserves: 2.8Moz Au (50.1%) 4
  • Beatrix (100%)
    Reserves: 1.2Moz Au
  • Cooke surface (100%)
    Reserves: 0.1Moz Au
  • Various projects7
    Resources: 19.7Moz Au;
    Reserves: 4.3Moz Au

  • Our processing facilities include six metallurgical gold plants.

SA PGM

  • Rustenburg (100%)
    Reserves: 15.4Moz 4E
  • Mimosa (50%)
    Reserves: 1.5Moz 4E 4
  • Marikana8 (95.3%)
    Reserves: 21.6Moz 4E
  • Kroondal (50%)
    Reserves: 1.1Moz 4E 4
  • Various projects7
    Resources: 86Moz 4E

  • Our processing facilities include concentrators a smelter complex together with base and precious metals refineries. We also have a 91.7% share in Platinum Mile, a retreatment facility that processes tailings to recover residual PGMs.

LITHIUM (LIOH)

  • Keliber project (30%)5
  1. The Group reports adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) based on the formula included in the facility agreements for compliance with the debt covenant formula. For a reconciliation please refer to the consolidated financial statements, note 28.9: capital management, available on www.sibanyestillwater.com/news-investors/
  2. Achieved on 4 August 2020 at the SA gold operations
  3. Au = gold; 2E PGM = platinum, palladium; 4E = platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold; LiOH = lithium hydroxide
  4. Attributable
  5. Acquisition effective from March 2021
  6. Includes direct interest of 19.3% in the project and indirect interest in Generation Mining
  7. For more information on the projects, please refer to the Mineral Resources and Reserves - a summary section in this report for more information or the Minerals Reserves and Resources report available at www.sibanyestillwater.com/news-investors/reports/annual/
  8. Effective accounting holding as at 31 December 2020. Some minority holdings are eliminated with the Group consolidation

Extensive Reserves of 82Moz that support long life (only 17% of Resources (478.6Moz))
2020 Production 982koz gold, 1.6moz 4E PGMs, US 2E PGM 603koz and 3E PGM recycling of 840 koz
US PGM contribution to Adjusted EBITDA to increase as Blitz ramps up
  • SA gold
  • SA PGMs (4E)
  • US PGMs (2E)

WHAT DRIVES US

Download this section PDF, 3.8MB

Our strategy

Strategy diagram

Our strategy is intended to strengthen Sibanye-Stillwater’s position as a leading international precious metals group. Delivering on this strategy will in turn enable us to fulfil our purpose to improve lives through our mining and continue to deliver on our strategic intent of creating superior value for all our stakeholders.

Given the rapidly changing world in which we operate and the successful delivery on various strategic goals, our strategy was reviewed and revised during 2020. Two key changes were made:

  • Following delivery on the strategic focus area of “Deleveraging our balance sheet”, this pillar evolved into “Optimising capital allocation”, representing the progression of our focus from reducing debt to optimising allocation of capital in a manner which ensures sustainable creation of superior value to all stakeholders.
  • The focus area “Addressing our South African discount” was refined and amended to “Prospering in South Africa’s investment climate”, thus encompassing a more constructive and pragmatic approach to operating in South Africa, where the bulk of our assets are located.

Embedding ESG excellence in the way we do business

Rationale
  • Superior ESG credentials and performance are necessary to maintain our licence to operate – both social and regulatory – as well as to maintain a strong investment rating
  • ESG performance is increasingly critical in how companies are evaluated

Aim: to manage and mitigate our impacts – operational safety, occupational health and well-being, socio-economic and environmental – underpinned by thoughtful stakeholder engagement and complemented by supply of commodities that confer global social and environmental benefits

Priorities
  • Establish holistic sustainable leadership capacity to enhance ESG management structures at all levels
  • Strengthen capacity at an operational level to lead social and environmental performance with occupational health and safety being immediate priorities
  • Align ESG performance with stakeholder expectations, with an emphasis on their most material issues and concerns
  • Secure increasing involvement in commodities that are of benefit to people and the planet

Focusing on safe production and operational excellence

Rationale
  • The continuous improvement of our safety performance and global cost competitiveness are key to the delivery of superior operating and financial performance
  • Safe production is aligned with our CARES values
  • Optimised efficiencies and productivity will ensure cost effectiveness and business viability

Aim: to operate safely, without causing harm while optimising cost-efficiency

Priorities
  • Attain safety performance comparable to ICMM peers
  • Ensure depth of technical expertise to support safe production and operational excellence, particularly at our SA operations
  • Incorporate technical requirements into succession planning while realising opportunities to enhance demographics
  • Ready teams and capabilities for growth outside of South Africa

Building a values-based culture

Rationale
  • A strong values-based, ethical organisational culture provides a solid foundation for values-based decision making and conduct in support of our purpose that reads, “Our mining improves lives”
  • Having our CARES values as the primary driver of our decisions and actions facilitates cohesion and unity of purpose under the banner of ‘We are one’
  • Such a culture is the foundation of a high-performance organisation and is conducive to operational excellence

Aim: to instil an organisational culture based on our culture growth programme, CARES values and Code of Ethics

Priorities
  • Ensure we live our CARES values in the ethical conduct of our business and in line with good governance
  • Promote values-based behaviour to support operating excellence
  • Promote diversity and inclusivity

Optimising capital allocation

Rationale
  • Having successfully reduced debt, the focus is now on efficient capital allocation to support growth
  • Enhanced and sustained returns on capital will support strategic growth and the continued viability of our business, and deliver sustained value to shareholders and other stakeholders over time

Aim: to ensure effective use of capital and thus long-term organic growth and value creation

Priorities
  • Transition to enhanced and structured capital allocation with a focus on returns
  • Prioritise continued shareholder returns
  • Structure capital allocation to enhance organic growth projects and corporate activity, while minimising debt

Prospering in South Africa’s investment climate

Rationale
  • Given the extent of our South African presence, it is essential to operate optimally and realistically with appropriate systems and processes in place to manage and mitigate any risks and challenges arising as a result of the local socio-economic context

Aim: to optimise the value of our orebodies and operational life of mine, given prevailing risks and challenges

Priorities
  • Operate optimally and realistically, given prevailing investment risks
  • Nurture the South African investment climate by advocating for favourable policy, regulations, and infrastructure services
  • Work to improve social cohesion within host mining communities by establishing socio-economic partnerships with local stakeholders
  • Address the Marikana legacy (refer to Marikana renewal fact sheet)

Pursuing value-accretive growth

Rationale
  • Sustaining competitiveness in the longer term in dynamic commodity markets helps to ensure continued strategic growth
  • Diversified geographic and commodity footprints are critical to growth and delivery on our purpose and strategy, particularly given evolving market requirements for precious and industrial metals

Aim: to establish a diversified international resource base that enhances our relevance as a global leader in meeting demand for precious metals and green commodities

Priorities
  • Lay the groundwork for greater geographic and product diversity – initially an entry into battery-related materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt
  • Secure international gold acquisitions
  • Establish global leadership to manage diversification
  • Enhance customer relations in readiness for diversification into “tomorrow’s industrial mix of new and evolving technologies”

Social, Ethics and Sustainability Committee: Chairman's report

Jerry Vilakazi

We have refocused our energies on entrenching environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects by ensuring that we revise our approaches where applicable and mainstream them in every sphere of our business.

Jerry Vilakazi
Chairman: Social, Ethics and Sustainability Committee

Donating sanitiser to the Carltonville hospital, near our SA gold operations

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

By maintaining constructive relationships, which are built on trust, mutual respect and transparency, we can ensure the success and long-term sustainability of our business. Moreover, it is the quality of these stakeholder relationships that determines the validity of our social licence to operate.

SUCCESSES

  • Celebrating 20 years of the US PGM operations’ Good Neighbor Agreement
  • Successfully concluded Kroondal SA PGM operations wage agreement with no disruptions
  • SA PGM operations collaborative Safety summits with stakeholders

CHALLENGES

  • Essential person-to-person engagement with some stakeholders challenging during COVID-19

Top 10 residually* ranked risks

* Residual risk is the amount of risk that remains after controls are accounted for

  1. Socio-political instability and social unrest in South Africa
  2. Unreliable and unaffordable electricity in South Africa
  3. Under-delivery to plans and market guidance – delivery on production volume and unit cost falling short of commitments
  4. Departure from projected economic parameters - adverse changes in commodity prices and exchange rates
  5. Health and safety performance not meeting expectations
  6. Change in and introduction of new legal / regulatory requirements (including carbon emissions regulations, financial provision regulations, mining charter etc.)
  7. Cybersecurity and IT risks
  8. Aggressive competition strategic actions (Including PGM production expansions in SA an other jurisdictions. Actions that influence PGM intensity of the global transportation and energy sectors).
  9. Inability to close operations
  10. High cost of and limited access to capital
  • Low Ranking
  • Medium Ranking
  • High Ranking

Our material issues

Material issues are those stakeholder concerns that can have major importance to the financial, economic, reputational and legal aspects of our business and, in terms of integrated reporting, are those issues which may impact our ability to create value in the short, medium and long term. More importantly, it is their impact on our stakeholders that make them of material concern to us.

  1. Culture and values
  2. Profitability
  3. Licence to operate
  4. Capital allocation
  5. Financing
  6. Risk management
  7. Tailings storage facility safety
  8. Energy supply and consumption
  9. Water management
  10. Air, water and land contamination
  11. Climate change
  • Environmental
  • Governance
  • Financial
  • Cross-Cutting

ACCOUNTABILITY

Download this section PDF, 3.3MB

BOARD CHARACTERISTICS

  • 13 DIRECTORS
  • 11 (or 85%) independent, non-executive directors
  • Unitary board structure
  • Independent, non-executive Chairman
  • Lead Independent Director
  • Appropriate balance of relevant knowledge, experience and skills
Gender diversity
Racial diversity
Age
Tenure

Leadership view

Given the rapidly changing world in which we operate and the successful delivery on various strategic goals, our strategy was reviewed and updated during 2020.

Dr Vincent Maphai
Chairman

Neal Froneman
Chief Executive Officer

 
Charl Keyter, Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer’s report

“Deleveraging achieved with a net cash position of R3.1 billion (US$210 million) at year end.”

Charl Keyter
Chief Financial Officer


SUCCESSES

Balance sheet successfully deleveraged with conversion of US$ Convertible Bond – gross debt, excluding Burnstone debt, reduced by 36% to R17.1 billion (US$1.2 billion) at year-end

Surging precious metal prices supported good production performance, in tandem with a weaker rand, boosted revenue and cash flow – allowed resumption of an industry leading dividend

CHALLENGES

Managing financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure profitable business continuity

Managing liquidity, debt and maintaining investment grade headroom

Our financial performance is key to delivery on our purpose, vision and strategy.

Strategic capital allocation

R6.2 billion
Project Capital Pipeline ~R6.2 billion
  • K4 – R3.9 billion (8 years)
  • Klipfontein – R66 million (1 year)
  • Burnstone – R2.3 billion (14 years)
  • Total capital (Project, ORD & SIB) ~R27.5 billion
R20 billion
Cash set aside for:
  • Liquidity buffer – R5 billion (1/3 of R15 billion)
  • Debt buffer – US$1 billion (R15 billion)
  • Improved credit metrics
~R9 billion – R10 billion p.a
Industry leading dividend:
  • Dividend policy of 25-35% normalised earnings
  • 2020 dividend – R10.7 billion (8.7% yield)
  • Repeatability and predictability
~R3 billion
  • Refinance - US$500 million 7/8 year (~Mid 2021)
  • 2022 bond callable at 100% (US$350 million) - June 2021
  • 2025 bond callable at 103.6% (US$350 million) – June 2021
~R1 billion
  • Cash-settled Long Term Incentive Plan - 3% to 5% dilution in a 5-year cycle
  • Odd lot shareholders buy-out – R84 million (0.5% of shares in issue)
  • Forms and buybacks already implemented
Overflow
  • Increased dividend

Rewarding performance: Planned on-target remuneration mix

PERFORMANCE

Download this section PDF, 7.35MB

Delivering value from our operations and projects

SUCCESSES

  • Great operational delivery despite COVID-19, further supported by strong metal prices
  • US PGM’s Fill the Mill project brought on line as planned
  • Completed review and approved SA PGM’s K4 and Klipfontein projects, and the Burnstone gold project

CHALLENGES

  • Additional COVID-19 protocols and related adjustment at all segments
  • Stillwater East (Blitz) delay exacerbated by losing summer construction with contractors demobilised during initial COVID-19 period
Infrastructure at the SA gold Burnstone project
Employees dressed in PPE, ready to start their shift underground

Empowering our workforce

SUCCESSES

  • Fast-tracked leadership development through online development conversations
  • Managing vulnerable employees, the well-being of employees and the return to work processes
  • Total percentage of female employees increased to 13.3% (2019: 12.6%) with female board members increasing from 18% to 25%
  • No industrial action recorded across the Group in 2020
  • SA gold operations, SA PGM operations and SA Integrated Services, were given provisional accreditation by the SABPP, with SA PGM operations taking top honours in the awards in recognition of true transformation in HR strategy and services. The SA gold operations were also nominated in this category

CHALLENGES

  • Adjusting to living and working with COVID-19 and the impact of the lockdown and pandemic on the employee morale and availability of labour

Continuous safe production

SUCCESSES

  • SA gold operations
    Unprecedented 13 million fatality free shifts achieved on 4 August 2020
  • SA PGM operations
    PGM processing plants and concentrators achieved 16 million fatality free shifts
  • US PGM operations
    Successful implementation of the centralised blasting system at East Boulder mine
  • Electronic auditing implemented as well as the introduction of TARP

CHALLENGES

  • SA operations
    Maintaining the operations during COVID-19 lockdown
  • US PGM operations
    Reducing the injury frequency rate of all injuries
Personal protective equipment utilised by employees during mining activities

Health, well-being and occupational hygiene

SUCCESSES

  • Sibanye-Stillwater took a measured but agile response in order to successfully prepare and operate in an unplanned global pandemic
  • Successfully screened employees on a daily basis while treating and isolating employees who tested positive for COVID-19
  • Prepared and operated our own isolating and quarantine COVID-19 facilities which provided relief to the public health system in South Africa
  • US PGM operations were able to act swiftly in de-densifying transport and implementing social distancing protocols as operations were allowed to continue operating during a regional lockdown

CHALLENGES

  • Due to COVID-19 receiving dedicated focus in the Group during the year, some of the previously planned outputs and targets could not be achieved
Deep-clean and sanitization of the Lebanon taxi rank

Social upliftment and community development

SUCCESSES

  • Impactful social contribution for employees, country, and communities during COVID-19
  • Increased database of local doorstep suppliers to further enhance local expenditure
  • 20 years of successful stakeholder engagement at the US PGM operations via the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA)

CHALLENGES

  • In-person interaction with communities during pandemic reduced
  • Lockdown in SA impacted delivery timelines of some projects
  • COVID-19 economic impact exacerbated social requirements and unemployment in local communities
Bighorn sheep at the US PGM operations

Minimising our environmental impact

SUCCESSES

  • Appointment of Vice President Tailings Engineering and establishment of an internationally recognised Independent Tailings Review Board to drive compliance in accordance with the Global Tailings Management Standard
  • Position papers developed for all aspects of environmental management to provide strategic direction and support delivery on our beyond compliance philosophy
  • The finalisation of the Group Strategic Energy Sourcing Roadmap
  • Our US PGM operations recycled 840,170oz of 3E in 2020, making it among the world’s largest PGM recyclers of autocatalysts
  • Implemented an Adaptive Management Plan as part of the US PGM operations’ GNA, which established tiered trigger levels for water quality that are more protective than state and federal standards

CHALLENGES

  • Alignment of stakeholder interests to support regional closure solutions
  • Climate change and more specifically water security
  • Significant permitting efforts are required for the next phases of the US PGM operations’ tailings storage facilities
Reef at a stope face at the SA gold operations
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells utilise PGMs and are expected to play a part in the future hydrogen economy

Harnessing continuous innovation

SUCCESSES

  • Delivered business improvements through the testing of the Continuous innovation process. More than R900 million in continuous innovation opportunities identified in Integrated Shared Services (ISS) and the Metallurgical operations
  • Deployed idea and innovation management platforms to support the continuous innovation process
  • Established class-leading data architecture designed to adopt and scale digital technology effectively
  • Completed the development and testing of a Group-wide data visualisation platform and successfully scaled it to the SA PGM operations

CHALLENGES

  • Determined multiple limitations of specific technologies
  • Proliferation and adoption of digitalisation remains challenging within the organisation
  • The Group acquisitive growth strategy presents challenges with different legacy systems that complicate our objective to standardise and globalise a digital strategy

Mineral resources and reserves – a summary

SUCCESSES

  • 40% increase in 4E PGM Mineral Reserves at our SA PGM operations to 39.5Moz, largely due to the inclusion of the K4 project at Marikana
  • 7% increase in 2E PGM Mineral Resources at our US PGM operations to 86.9Moz

CHALLENGES

  • Off-setting the depletion in Mineral Reserves at the aging SA gold operations by focusing on secondary reef exploration
  • Decreasing Mineral Resources at the SA gold operations due to economic considerations of below infrastructure areas
Reef at a stope face at the SA gold operations

DOWNLOADS

2020 Suite of reports

Supplementary documents

Forward looking statements

The information in this report may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbour” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including, among others, those relating to Sibanye Stillwater Limited’s (“Sibanye-Stillwater” or the “Group”) financial positions, business strategies, plans and objectives of management for future operations, are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the senior management and directors of Sibanye-Stillwater and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. As a consequence, these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in this report.

All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this report may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also often use words such as “will”, “forecast”, “potential”, “estimate”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate” and words of similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances and should be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in this disclaimer. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements.

The important factors that could cause Sibanye-Stillwater’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Sibanye-Stillwater’s future financial position, plans, strategies, objectives, capital expenditures, projected costs and anticipated cost savings, financing plans, debt position and ability to reduce debt leverage; economic, business, political and social conditions in South Africa, Zimbabwe, the United States and elsewhere; plans and objectives of management for future operations; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to obtain the benefits of any streaming arrangements or pipeline financing; the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to comply with loan and other covenants and restrictions and difficulties in obtaining additional financing or refinancing; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to service its bond instruments; changes in assumptions underlying Sibanye-Stillwater’s estimation of its current mineral reserves; any failure of a tailings storage facility; the ability to achieve anticipated efficiencies and other cost savings in connection with, and the ability to successfully integrate, past, ongoing and future acquisitions, as well as at existing operations; the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to complete any ongoing or future acquisitions; the success of Sibanye-Stillwater’s business strategy and exploration and development activities; the ability of Sibanye-Stillwater to comply with requirements that it operate in ways that provide progressive benefits to affected communities; changes in the market price of gold and PGMs; the occurrence of hazards associated with underground and surface mining; any further downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating; a challenge regarding the title to any of Sibanye-Stillwater’s properties by claimants to land under restitution and other legislation; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to implement its strategy and any changes thereto; the occurrence of labour disruptions and industrial actions; the availability, terms and deployment of capital or credit; changes in the imposition of regulatory costs and relevant government regulations, particularly environmental, tax, health and safety regulations and new legislation affecting water, mining, mineral rights and business ownership, including any interpretation thereof which may be subject to dispute; the outcome and consequence of any potential or pending litigation or regulatory proceedings or environmental, health or safety issues; the concentration of all final refining activity and a large portion of Sibanye-Stillwater’s PGM sales from mine production in the United States with one entity; the identification of a material weakness in disclosure and internal controls over financial reporting; the effect of US tax reform legislation on Sibanye-Stillwater and its subsidiaries; the effect of South African Exchange Control Regulations on Sibanye-Stillwater’s financial flexibility; operating in new geographies and regulatory environments where Sibanye-Stillwater has no previous experience; power disruptions, constraints and cost increases; supply chain shortages and increases in the price of production inputs; the regional concentration of Sibanye- Stillwater’s operations; fluctuations in exchange rates, currency devaluations, inflation and other macro-economic monetary policies; the occurrence of temporary stoppages of mines for safety incidents and unplanned maintenance; Sibanye-Stillwater’s ability to hire and retain senior management or sufficient technically skilled employees, as well as its ability to achieve sufficient representation of historically disadvantaged South Africans in its management positions; failure of Sibanye-Stillwater’s information technology and communications systems; the adequacy of Sibanye-Stillwater’s insurance coverage; social unrest, sickness or natural or man-made disaster at informal settlements in the vicinity of some of Sibanye-Stillwater’s South African-based operations; and the impact of HIV, tuberculosis and the spread of other contagious diseases, such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Sibanye-Stillwater are described in Sibanye-Stillwater’s filings with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Integrated Annual Report 2020 and the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2020. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the content. Sibanye-Stillwater expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement (except to the extent legally required). These forward-looking statements have not been reviewed or reported on by the Group’s external auditors.