Economic impact

In the US, our operations contribute significantly to the local economy and are sizable generators of economic prosperity, not only for local communities but for the state of Montana as a whole. We are the largest private industrial employer in Montana and the state’s largest taxpayer.

An independent economic impact study undertaken by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research in 2020, based on 2019 financial data, noted that we generate economic output of US$3 billion annually, more than 3% of Montana’s entire economic output.

In 2021, our US operations:

• employed 2,904 people, including 933 contractors, mostly from the Stillwater and Yellowstone counties
• paid US$241.5 million in salaries and wages and spent US$5.7 million on employee training and development
• spent US$439 million on total procurement, of which US$439 million (39%) was spent locally
• incurred social expenditure of US$400,000
• paid US$96 million in current taxes and royalties

In South Africa, Sibanye-Stillwater is the country’s largest employer outside government. It is estimated that each person employed in mining in South Africa supports 10 direct dependants and up to seven additional indirect dependants. That means that, in South Africa, our jobs support close to 1.2 million people – almost 3% of the country’s population.

In 2021, our SA operations:

• employed 81,981 people in all, including 18,043 contractors – 80% of those employed at our SA operations are South African citizens
• paid R18,019 million in salaries and wages and spent R969.9 million on employee training and development
• spent R23.5 billion on total procurement, of which R16.4 billion (70%) was spent with local black economic empowerment entities
• incurred total SLP expenditure of R2,085 million and CSR expenditure of R113.5 million
• paid R14,728 million in current taxes and royalties