Neal Froneman
CEO: Sibanye-Stillwater
‘The biggest concern was embarking on a discounted rights offer. And the markets saw exactly the opposite’
2024 was as tough as it gets for Froneman and Sibanye-Stillwater, and 2025 may be as challenging. But investors who have long been drawn to the company’s once-rich dividend pickings will be hoping the group gets its groove back. A hazard negotiated last year was that depressed prices for platinum group metals (PGMs) would force Sibanye-Stillwater into a discounted rights issue. Froneman’s team avoided this by putting the cash-burning Stillwater West mine in Montana on care and maintenance. The group then raised $500m in a gold and platinum streaming deal and a further R500m in cash and shares after selling its Beisa uranium resource to Neo Energy Metals.
One bullet dodged but another was already on its way. In October it emerged that private equity firm Appian Capital was seeking $522m in damages plus interest after Sibanye-Stillwater terminated a $1.2bn deal to acquire two of its Brazilian mines after a ‘geo-technical event’ in 2022. Sibanye-Stillwater suffered a setback when the High Court of England and Wales ruled the event was not material. A trial is set for November to determine possible damages. The mines in question were part of Sibanye-Stillwater’s strategy of diversifying into green metals, a plan that is on the back burner, although one further investment still beckons. That is whether Sibanye-Stillwater should follow its rights in Rhyolite Ridge, a lithium-boron prospect in Nevada.
So tough times although it's worth remembering that in Neal Froneman Sibanye-Stillwater has a CEO who has seen it all. A born survivor, he will be keen to set the group on a solid footing before deciding his next step.
LIFE OF NEAL
Froneman has been at the helm of Sibanye-Stillwater from the get-go over a decade ago when Gold Fields spun off its labour-intensive and conventional gold mining assets in South Africa. But Froneman was determined to go for more than gold and his deal-making has crafted Sibanye-Stillwater into a diversified metals producer with a global presence. To relax, Froneman enjoys long-range rifle shooting and tinkering with fast cars.
