JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The ordinary shares of precious metals mining company Sibanye-Stillwater have been approved for inclusion in the list of qualifying equity securities to be traded on South Africa’s complementary A2X stock exchange.

With effect from October 6, the secondary A2X listing is poised to support liquidity and provide investors with greater access to the ordinary shares of Sibanye-Stillwater, which at the time of going to press had a market capitalisation of R117-billion.

Sibanye-Stillwater, the primarily listing of which remains on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), also has a secondary listing of American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Interestingly, the A2X listing will bring the instruments available for trade on A2X to 167, including 31 Top 40 constituents. These have a combined market capitalisation of R12-trillion-plus.

Other mining companies with secondary A2X listings include Harmony Gold, Impala Platinum, Gold Fields, and AngloGold Ashanti.

Sibanye-Stillwater’s issued share capital on the JSE remains unaffected by its A2X listing, for which there is no cost.

“We’re delighted to welcome Sibanye-Stillwater to A2X. This listing reflects the growing confidence issuers have in A2X as a credible, cost-effective secondary market, and gives investors greater choice in how they access one of South Africa's leading mining companies,” A2X CEO Kevin Brady stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

A2X is regulated under the Financial Markets Act by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the Prudential Authority.

Sibanye-Stillwater is one of the largest producers and refiners of platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium and ruthenium and is a top-tier gold producer. It also produces nickel, chrome, copper, silver, cobalt and zinc. The company has also diversified into mining and processing battery metals and has increased its presence in the circular economy by expanding recycling and secondary-mining globally. Geographically, its operations span Southern Africa, North America, Europe and Australia.

On Monday, September 28, Sibanye-Stillwater received formal notification that the total ordinary share interest held by JPMorgan Chase had risen to 5.04% of the total issued ordinary shares of Sibanye-Stillwater, which followed notification on September 18 that the total ordinary share interest held by UBS Group AG had risen to 5.03%.

PERIPHERAL OPPORTUNITY

Are there other South African mining companies able to turn peripheral processing material to positive account in the manner that Sibanye-Stillwater has helped to do at its base metal refinery in South Africa’s North West province?

Through the commissioning of a new solvent extraction circuit, Thakadu Battery Materials, an entrepreneurial battery materials manufacturer working in partnership with Sibanye-Stillwater, is elevating crude nickel sulphate feed into higher-value nickel sulphate products for export.

“Together with Sibanye-Stillwater, we’re showing how Africa can add value to critical metals at source,” Thakadu CEO Ruli Diseko has pointed out, amid the launch of IXS-PurePlus, a new nickel sulphate product developed for companies that require cleaner chemistry, tighter impurity control and improved performance in use.

IXS-PurePlus has been designed for customers that manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, battery energy storage systems and advanced industrial technology applications, where reliability, sustainability and precision are key.

“We’re very pleased that our partnership with Thakadu creates greater value from our resources while supporting the development of resilient and diversified supply chains for the energy transition,” was the comment of Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Dr Richard Stewart.