After a period of soaring growth, Sibanye is 'getting back to basics'

New Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Richard Stewart will prioritise operational efficiency and optimisation of company’s core assets over acquisitions. By Ed Stoddard

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Sibanye-Stillwater has come a long way since it started life in 2013 as a Gold Fields spin-off focused on conventional, deep-level gold mines in South Africa.

Under its deal-stalking CEO Neal Froneman, the company diversified at breakneck speed, first into platinum group metals (PGMs) and then into the battery metals that are regarded as critical to global decarbonisation efforts in the face of fossil fuel-powered climate change.

On 1 October, Richard Stewart — who previously headed the company’s southern African operations — took over as CEO, tasked with taking Sibanye on the next stage of its journey.

The two offer contrasts in style. The blunt-talking Froneman took over legacy gold assets that could spin cash without massive capital outlay, which translated into a dividend play. But the operations offered a limited time span and left Sibanye completely exposed to the ups and downs of the gold price.

At the moment, gold seems to be going up and up, but that was not apparent more than a decade ago.

A deal-maker of note who clearly relished tracking down and bagging new assets, Froneman led Sibanye’s diversification drive.