Innovation & technology

Technology, digital evolution and innovation is a key enabler to our three-dimensional strategy. Innovation is core to the delivery of our strategy and is one of our core iCARES values.

As a digital-first organisation, Sibanye-Stillwater aims to uphold global best practice in digital technology adoption, while mitigating against ICT risks. This material matter is about the need to stay competitive and to reshape the way we work if needs be, as reflected in the strategic differentiator Inclusive, diverse and bionic.

Over the past five years we have invested over R427 million (US$23.9 million) in technology development and strategic innovation.

This area in the Sibanye-Stillwater Group is covered by three portfolios with distinct aims:

• Innovation: embedding a Group culture of innovation
• Digital transformation: deploying digital as an enabler of strategic objectives
• Technology: promoting industry-leading technology in support of our strategic objectives

Strategic innovation initiatives

DigiMine laboratory and Simulacrum

We fund the Digimine initiative in partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), and the Simulacrum initiative in partnership with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). In the nine years of partnership, both universities have established state-of-the art facilities that allow us to research digital technologies and train graduate professionals in the “mine of the future.” To date we have invested R120 million in these partnerships and have renewed our funding agreements for both universities for the period 2024-2026, totalling a further R25.5 million.

Learn more at www.wits.ac.za/wmi/digimine/ and www.uj.ac.za

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gCDTpfWPxeA%3Frel%3D0

Mandela Mining Precinct

Sibanye-Stillwater is an active participant in the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP) which is a public-private-partnership involving government and several other mining companies facilitated by the Minerals Council of South Africa and the Department of Science and Industry.

In 2023, the MMP initiated two new programmes at Wits (Real Time Information Management Systems, (RTIMS), and the Successful Adoption of Technology Centred Around People, (SATCAP)), and one at UJ (the Longevity of Current mining initiative). We are proud to be part of these initiatives, creating shared value through research and development.

iXS initiative

In 2023, as part of our iXS initiative, we continued to support innovators and entrepreneurs with novel mining-related technologies. This initiative supports startups that are developing technologies to solve mining-related challenges. We help them commercialise their offering and apply it globally.

In 2023 we established a cohort of entrepreneurs and innovators in residence who helped manage our investment programme and developed novel solutions to industry issues. The popularity of our iXS investment programme is evidenced by the fact that we saw a 480% increase in applications for funding in 2023. In the two years of operation, the iXS initiative has screened 468 opportunities, of which 57 opportunities progressed to detailed consideration, and 21 were submitted for expert review. A total of nine investment opportunities were structured and assessed in detail, of which three satisfied our investment criteria and were successfully funded.

Innocentrix’s SA Innovation League

The SA Innovation League is a collaborative initiative between Innocentrix, the Milpark Business School and the Da Vinci Institute’s Technology Top 100 (tt100) Awards, which assesses organisations’ innovation management strategies and practices. At the 2021/2022 league, the approach, for the first time since inception in 2014, aligned with the series of ISO/SANS 56002 Innovation Management Standards. Sibanye-Stillwater announced on 20 May 2022, that it achieved second place in the 2021/2022 awards, competing in the Large Organisation category.

Heraeus Precious Metals

• Partnership with Heraeus Precious Metals, a leading provider of precious metals products and services, including refining and recycling
• R&D and commercialisation of novel, PGM-containing catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis to produce green hydrogen
• Current catalysts contain platinum and relatively high loadings of iridium – one of the most scarce PGMs, with limited availability
• Project aims to develop a new, robust solution looking at the substitution of iridium with other metals, as well as developing more sophisticated metal oxide structures
• Success would result in a more sustainable and cost-effective catalyst that encourages the adoption of PGM-containing PEM electrolysers and enables a multi-GW green hydrogen ecosystem

ReFERENCES

Please note that some of the links below are not hosted by Sibanye-Stillwater. Sibanye-Stillwater is not responsible for the content or availability of third-party websites.