Sandouville

The transaction is the second step in Sibanye-Stillwater’s battery metals strategy, building on the investment in the Keliber lithium hydroxide project, in partnership with the State of Finland and the Finnish Minerals Group, announced in February 2021. The Sandouville site is a polyvalent facility which is already zoned for heavy industrial purposes. The site is scaleable for nickel, cobalt and lithium battery grade products, and will enable Sibanye-Stillwater to further advance its battery metals strategy and recycling activities.

Post a successful due diligence, the acquisition is seen as a low risk entry into the nickel beneficiation business and the initial focus will be on ramping up throughput as per the existing Eramet plans. As part of the due diligence Sibanye-Stillwater has completed a scoping study to in parallel with current production further upgrade the Sandouville facilities to target specific nickel battery metal products in order to unlock the full potential of these facilities and their location. A detailed investment and development plan will be provided in due course.

Sibanye-Stillwater (Tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW) announced on 30 July 2021, that it has entered into an exclusive put option agreement (“Put Option”) with French mining group Eramet SA (Eramet) for the acquisition of 100% of the Sandouville nickel hydrometallurgical processing facility, located in Normandy, France for an effective cash cost of circa €65million*(“the Transaction”). The share purchase agreement which has been agreed together with the Put Option would be entered into upon conclusion of the consultation process with the works council of Eramet Sandouville and thereafter the Transaction is expected to conclude by year end, subject to inter alia, the approval of the South African Reserve Bank and other regulatory approvals^#.

• * Subject to closing adjustments
• ^# Other conditions precedent include consultation with the facility’s works council, approval from the French authorities of operating permits transfer, transfer of commercial contracts, carve-out arrangements and foreign investment clearance. The transaction is not subject to any Antitrust approvals.

The Sandouville facility is situated in the industrial heart of Europe at Le Havre, France’s second largest industrial port, with strategic access to extensive logistical infrastructure including shipping, rail and key motorways, supporting any future supply into the European end user markets. The current Sandouville facilities include a hydrometallurgical nickel refinery with a production capacity of 12,000 tonnes per annum of high-purity nickel metal, 4,000 tonnes per annum of high-purity nickel salts and solutions and around 600 tonnes per annum of cobalt chloride.