It’s Sibanye’s lot to appear weaker in August’s tables than even Lonmin, which has been at the top of the list of the weakest shares for some time. Only the problematic ArcelorMittal SA is weaker than Lonmin among the top 100 largest shares on the JSE.

Sibanye is being punished by the market for its takeover of Stillwater Mining in Montana in the US, which forced it to issue a large number of new shares in a rights issue. The general consensus is that it paid too much for the mining group. But now Stillwater is in the Sibanye stable, which makes the latter a major international resources player. Its CEO, Neal Froneman, must be pleased that the palladium price is still rising and that he now has control over the cash flow generated by Stillwater.