Anglo American Platinum has confirmed the sale of the Rustenburg Operations by its wholly owned subsidiary Rustenburg Platinum Mines to Sibanye Rustenburg Platinum Mines Proprietary Ltd. (Sibanye), and that Sibanye has now taken over ownership, control and management of those operations.
The Rustenburg Operations comprise the Bathopele, Siphumelele (including Khomanani), and Thembelani (including Khuseleka) mining operations, two concentrating plants, an on-site chrome recovery plant, the Western Limb Tailings Retreatment Plant, associated surface infrastructure, and related assets and liabilities on an ongoing concern basis, including normalized levels of working capital.
“This is a major step in the repositioning of Anglo American Platinum’s portfolio,” Chris Griffith, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, said. “The sale of the Rustenburg Operations allows us to focus on our most competitive assets, consisting of largely open-pit and more mechanized operations, which will result in higher margin production, a smaller and more highly skilled workforce, safer operations and a less complex organization. As a result, our core operations stand to benefit from dedicated management attention and technical expertise, as well as our disciplined capital allocation model.”
The upfront disposal proceeds of R1.5 billion received will reduce net debt and further strengthen Anglo American Platinum’s balance sheet. Sibanye will also pay minimum deferred proceeds of R3 billion (in nominal terms), to be earned through a 35% share of the distributable free cash flows generated by the Rustenburg Operations on an annual basis for a period of six full years commencing January 1.
