By: Reuters

Sibanye-Stillwater SSWJ.J has approved its Australian copper project, it said on Tuesday after reporting a surge in half-year profit on higher gold and platinum group metal (PGM) prices.

The Johannesburg-based miner said the Mt Lyell copper-gold project execution would commence in the first half of 2027, with first production expected in early 2029.

Mt Lyell will give Sibanye its first exposure to copper mining, with estimated annual copper output of 26,000 metric tons by 2032. The total cost of the project is expected to be about $340 million, Sibanye said.

Sibanye CEO Richard Stewart said the copper mine, which was idled in 2014, met the company's investment criteria.

"That should be within certain jurisdictions where we operate, in certain metals that are future-facing," Stewart told Reuters. "Copper is one of those metals."

LITHIUM VENTURE

Sibanye has also diversified into battery metals through its Keliber lithium project in Finland, seeking exposure to growing demand for electric vehicles.

Keliber is Europe's first large-scale lithium mining and processing venture and Sibanye is seeking concessions from the European Union to shield it from price volatility and unfair competition.

Stewart said talks with the EU were constructive so far.

"There's been a lot of discussion around what models could look like, how it could work, whether it's local content, et cetera. But we haven't seen any hard sort of decisions coming out of the EU towards that yet," he added.

EARNINGS RISE

Sibanye's headline earnings per share more than tripled to 6.01 rand ($0.3721) in the six months to June 30, compared with 1.90 rand in the same period last year.

It said it will pay an interim dividend of 2.01 rand per share, returning 5.7 billion rand to shareholders.

Sibanye reported 67% and 70% increases in the average realised prices for its PGMs in southern Africa and the United States respectively. Gold prices were also 35% higher during the period.

($1 = 16.1510 rand)

(Reporting by Nelson Banya and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Louise Heavens and David Goodman)