Sibanye Stillwater Limited Price & Performance (SBSW)

And let me highlight the impact. We've been planning for this transition for probably about two years now. So this is not something that was decided yesterday or last month or even last quarter. Very pleasing to myself and remember this is a board process when it involves the CEO. Is that this is an internal appointment which will result in a smooth transition And as I've said, the comfort I have is we have a very, very solid and stable C suite team. What an internal appointment does as long as you've got ownership of the strategy as it's been developed by both the board and the C suite, is that you have strategic continuity and you are welcome to ask Richard directly he may be thinking of changing and so on. But certainly, it's my understanding understanding that we have significant continuity And not only that, I think the purpose of the company is we have a C suite, which is committed to the purpose, which is under underpinned by sustainability and that permeates our entire strategy. So I think a very good and important outcome. If we can move to the next slide, please. Again, not going to go through strategy in detail, but just to say that our strategic positioning and the refocus on the strategic essentials has been validated.

If you start looking at the trends and the results. And I believe that it's a appropriate and important to continue focusing on the strategic essentials. And what are they? Well, it's ensuring safety and well-being, It's prospering in every region in which we operate. $2,000,000,000 and 1,600,000,000.0 for 2023 and 2024. Respectively. That's $120,000,000 and $90,000,000 respectively for both mining and recycling. Our estimate of the value of the credits for 2025 based on the recently restructured store water operations is about ZAR1 billion or $60,000,000 That is I think our rewards for being loyal to providing strategic metals in The U. S. And I'm not sure where else you would have got that type of value addition anywhere else in the world. Other than in Europe, of course, which is similar to The U. S. In that it is dependent on strategic metals. And in France, we've been very well received by the French government and in advance the GALICAM feasibility study, we've been selected for a grant. And please remember, this is a grant, not a credit. Of ZAR2.8 billion. Once we have a a financial investment decision. When we have completed that feasibility study. And we are eligible for what they call the c three IV tax credit for green industry innovation.

So that's another value outcome from the strategy. In addition, we have the Finnish government through FMG, the Finnish Minerals Group, as a 20% co investment partner in Keliba. So in my mind, those are very tangible outcomes of of the multi polarity strategy and focusing on Europe and North America. As providing critical metals in those jurisdictions. Next slide please. So the other aspect I wanted to raise was our early response to a changing economic environment and at our August or our mid year results in 2023, we actually shared with you how we were going to proactively respond to what we saw as a deteriorating environment. And those of you who attend these presentations will remember when the Ukraine was invaded, we already raised the issue of an environment that was going to become inflationary. And started preparing ourselves. If we can just build the slide to the next portion. You would also remember at a results presentation [indiscernible] we used a PE Bank to indicate that we were going to save money in a piggy bank and prepare and strengthen our balance sheet. And I think I recognize there was some amusement and probably some skepticism to us actually being able to do that.

To protect your balance sheet, not only do you have to raise money, but you've also got to make sure that negative outflows that weaken the balance sheet are addressed. And we moved into a number of restructurings, both in the South Africa, well, in the South African region and in The U. S. The U. S. Went through two and in Sandoval, we terminated the Boliden contract. And started moving accelerating nickel sulfate concept studies, which then transitioned into the Gallican studies going straight to to PCAM. In terms of reinforcing the balance sheet in 2024, and I'll discuss more about this We embarked on a number of programs and I'm not going to go through them all. Probably the most significant one was the stream, but in effect, we raised R35.8 billion rand we improved liquidity by that amount. To be safe and prudent, we had our covenants up lifted just to give us some headroom in case we were not successful with this. But this is all these initiatives have had a major positive impact on the company and its current positioning and I'm going to show you that in the next slide. So so in terms of let's focus on the graph on the right hand side and I'll come back to the the bullet points on the left.

So in terms of net debt to EBITDA now out gearing, you can see how from 2018 from 02/2005 in fact came down to being net cash and then moved up and the actual number, as I said, was 1.79. But if you include the stream, our pro form a net debt to EBITDA is below 1.1 now. I dare say that is lower than most of our PGM peers. And I say that and reinforce it because there was a lot of skepticism that we would not be able to keep our leverage below three times. So I trust that in future when we say we're going to embark on these sort of programs, we will be given more credibility, for achieving them. But I also want to acknowledge in a way [indiscernible] that it's difficult for analysts to let's say, know all the forms of funding that that that we can use. And and I know it's complex, for them to value and include, But we're not a one trick pony. We know we know and we have experienced of raising non debt We have experience of using structures such as streams. We have experience of analyzing these and fully understanding negative and the positives of each form of structure And we made a commitment, we would not use equity, we would not lean on our shareholders.

And we have not. And for that, I am first of all, very pleased, but also very proud We've retained upside exposure to prices. We haven't locked ourselves into anything. As I said, we secured 36,000,000,000 of financing in twelve months. We have started well ahead of our peers I would suggest that debt and non debt funding is going to get more difficult and more expensive. We have, as I said, accessed non traditional sources of capital early and and I think that is an exceptional result for a company like ourselves. Next slide, please. So just a little bit on the stream, because I've also read the reports about giving away upside and [indiscernible] we've crystallized €9,000,000,000 in future value. As you can see, it's had a very significant impact on headroom and liquidity It's almost a one times turn in reducing leverage. In fact, it's 0.7 And important to note that that $500,000,000 stream or 9 point R9.4 billion stream. Is 44% of our total acquisition costs of our South African PGM assets. 44% of what we paid, we've raised in one stream. Now let's understand what that stream is. It's primarily a stream based on gold byproducts in PNGMs.

Which we get practically no value for. In terms of the impact on platinum, there's a little bit of platinum stream It's less than 2% of our platinum. Now remember, this is less than 2% for a 44% return on what we paid for these assets. So now starts putting it in in context. In terms of the process you have to go through with the streamer, such as Franco Nevada, They conduct exceptionally deep due diligence and of course the upside to them is the optionality of us expanding and having longer lives of mine that is what they look for. So it's another form of of due diligence on the company, which we welcome. I would also add that this is long term non debt type of capital. Was at competitive costs much lower than you can get through, let's call it vanilla financing. In instruments. There's no repayment of the advance payment and there's no minimum delivery obligations. So this is an exceptional instrument for raising money and has served us well. The last thing I'm going to say is please when you look at this table in detail, just note the payback on investments we've achieved from these purchases Something like Lonnmann we've paid for 12.7 times over.

So to me, all very good news. Thank you, Enrique. If you could So at this stage, I'm going to hand over to the chief regional officers to do to present a detailed operational review So Richard will be first up. So over to you, Richard. Thank you.

Good morning and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you very much, Neil. I think if we start off with our safety as a company, we are now three years into our faith elimination strategy. This has been a strategy that is very much focused on identifying and mitigating the highest risk areas of our business that could result in fatals. It's very pleasing that we can see a consistent decline in terms of those lagging indicators. Looking at our top two, our serious injury frequency rates and our total recordable injury frequency rates, see a consistent fifteen percent to sixteen percent decline in those rates over the last three years. And in fact, 2024 was the best results we've ever achieved. Looking at our lagging indicators, which tracks our high potential incidents, And that includes incidents where we didn't necessarily suffer an injury, but it could have resulted in a serious injury or loss of life. We've also seen those incidents [indiscernible] demonstrating the real risk reduction across our operations. Nevertheless, despite an improving trend as well across our fatality frequency rate, it is deeply disappointing and tragic that we lost eight colleagues during 2024. Our sincere condolences go to the families colleagues and friends We will not stop until as a company and we do believe that we can mine labor intensive operations without loss of life and this will remain our deepest commitment until such time as we achieve that.

We are at a critical juncture in our faith elimination journey, our focus to date has largely been on identifying the risks, putting the controls in place to mitigate those risks and embedding that throughout the organization. We are now moving to a point where we are deeply focused on behavior, and ultimately how we want to drive our culture through our management routines and our leadership Thousand three EPG ounces and 2,600,000 pounds of copper. Relden has certainly demonstrated strong safety performance, operational and financial performance underscoring the ability to deliver value without requiring further group capital investment. The combined recycling segment contributed just under 5% of total group adjusted EBITDA, some ZAR33 million dollars or just under ZAR600 million with Relden contributing 45% over the ten months. The Auto Cat recycling operation contributed the ZAR326 million balance with annual profit margin of 4.3%. As mentioned earlier by Neil, this excludes the Section 45 x credit specific to the AutoCAD recycling operation. Estimated at some ZAR58 million or ZAR1 billion for $20.23 ZAR32 million dollars or R5 80 odd million for 2024. Enhances the profitability of the recycling operations. Looking ahead, the evolving recycling landscape presents both risks and opportunities.

Our strategy prioritizes long term value creation over short term competitive tactics ensuring that we maintain access to critical feedstock, technology and infrastructure to deliver the unchanged forecast of $300,000,000 to three fifty thousand PGM ounces. Relden is looking to deliver 120,000 to 130,000 ounces of gold and 2,000,000 to 2,300,000 ounces of silver. Across both businesses, our key priorities include fostering a performance driven culture realizing synergies across the recycling operations leveraging global sales networks for spent AutoCAD collection and reinforcing our commitment to responsible sourcing and clean premiums. With that, I will hand over to you, Mika. Thanks. Thank you, Grant. And greetings everyone from Helsinki. For Region Europe, in Sandoval, we had a year transformation and restructuring. And actually, the team did rather good job The primary goal was to reduce the losses of the existing operations, and we managed to do it [indiscernible] Producing 8% more than the year before, and [indiscernible] rigorous cost management which resulted in 3% better result as the year before. We also did good working capital management and freed cash from the operation. At the same time, when we are preparing ourselves for the ramp down, of this operation, We believe that it will happen H1 this year.

We also developed the possible future of Sandoval operations. Which is the project Gallicar. Galikam is a result of different repurposing alternatives that we analyzed And the strategy is to take us towards battery metals and the Battery Metals ecosystem in France, through precursor manufacturing. We are currently doing the pre feasibility study for So originally, we said that we would finalize that already November 24. However, due to the change in scope, we decided to split it to PFS1 and PFS2. Now PFS as a whole we'll be finalized this year, Q3 Four. We are a strategic project now. We got the status from the European Commission. And at the same time we got grants from Innovation Fund, which is €144,000,000 for this project. We are also eligible to another grant In France, which is called C3IB fund. Now over the caliber Kelleber [indiscernible] Progressed very well and on time. You can see here some beautiful pictures of the mine of the concentrator and of the refinery. And you can see the difference which has happened only in more or less six months in between the pictures A lot of people have been working in the construction And, it has gone well As mentioned, What happened last year as well is that we got the funding [indiscernible] we also recruited people We are an attractive employer The project is very much liked.

So our headcount increased according to our plans as well. What we are doing now is that due to authorities and regulatory changes and some changes also in the scope of the project, That means that it's necessary to review the CapEx needed and also OpEx concerning the ramp up. This work is now underway as we speak. We are now also targeting for the ramp up H1 26, That's the hot commission as well. And we have a change against our earlier plans and mainly due to commercial reasons. We are not going to do the external feed phase at all.

But we have decided and the current plan is that we go directly to our own ore and that's, as mentioned, H1 26. [indiscernible] There are good news as well. As you know, we have done a lot of exploration and we are updating our reserves and resources They increased actually mineral reserves by 36.6%. And we feel that that is a very good result. So we have a future here and we have a future potential to grow. Thank you all. Over to you, Robert. Thank you very much, Vika. Hello, everybody. I'm Robert Fonnikek, and I'll talk to the Australian region. And the 82,000 tonnes of payable zinc material in 2024.

Disappointingly, is not a big improvement on preceding ten months. Was severely impacted by excessive rainfall and flooding Production did recover strongly in quarter two and quarter three, but then in quarter four again, production was impacted by a bushfire. The bushfire was on the October 19 And the team did exceptionally well.

They managed to predict most of the assets. Unfortunately, we did lose in excess of 23 kilometers of large diameter [indiscernible] by the fire and this impacted us severely.

We were impacted for about sixty days. So I'll say again, the fire was on [indiscernible] We were in production again by the November 16, but we were only back to normal production by the December 4. [indiscernible] We had a 22% decrease in production for the second half of twenty twenty four compared to the same period 2023. The all in sustaining cost was $2,317 time This was 17% higher than in 2023. Due to what I've just spoken about, but compounded by higher royalties associated with the higher metal price we received. And in slightly higher sustaining capital as well. US3.5 million dollars of the increase in the sustaining capital was directly attributable to the bushfire. During the year, we were assisted by two very strong tailwinds. We saw a turnaround in EBITDA. The region contributed Sorry, the operations contributed positive adjusted EBITDA of 34,000,000 This is in excess of ZAR640 million. And this compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of ZAR15 million for the preceding ten months. The average zinc price for the year was US2805 dollars per tonne significantly higher than the $2,541 per zinc tonne for the preceding ten months. Were also fortunate with lower treatment charges, The treatment charges decreased year on year from $264 a tonne to $148 a tonne.

I am optimistic that we are going to continue to have strong metal prices in 2025. Especially given the the deterioration of the Australian dollar to the U. S. Dollar And I also believe that our treatment charges are going to be significantly lower than ZAR 148 we had per concentrate ton in 2024. [indiscernible] The region is also busy developing two growth projects. The first you are familiar with the 28, or 28% increase in copper resources And then we're also busy with the development of a phosphate feasibility study. And as regard we are assessing the opportunities to leverage our existing infrastructure In the region, together with a Large regional phosphate deposits. And this we can bring into operation post [indiscernible] completion of the Zem tailings treatment project. In this regard, a feasible study has also commenced, also which we plan to have finished by the end of the year. I think I'll leave it there for the Australian region.

And I'll hand over to our CFO, Sean.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Robert.

Turning to the financial results for the six months and year ended thirty one December twenty twenty four. Revenue for the six months increased by 7%.

This was mainly due to higher rand gold prices and the inclusion of Relden for this six month period. The effective date of the Relden acquisition was March 2024. Although cost of sales was up 8%, on a like for like basis, normalizing for the Relden operations, cost of sales increased by only 0.5% This is very commendable cost performance Red against the backdrop of still high global inflation, Adjusted EBITDA came in at ZAR6.4 billion, And this is the third half year in a row where we have kept EBITDA at this level. Finance expenses are partly due to the debt service charges on the convertible bond, was issued in 2023. And the utilization of borrowings The gain on financial instruments reflect the impact of lower medium to long term commodity prices which has a direct impact on the valuation of third party liabilities which include dividends and profit share to our empowerment partners. We have booked a further impairment at our U. S. Operations due to the impact of consensus lower future palladium prices. Profit for the period was $1,300,000,000 compared to a loss of $45,000,000,000 for the similar period in 2023, No final dividend will be paid.

Moving on to the full year results. [indiscernible] 2024 saw a 1% reduction in revenue despite the inclusion of the Relden operations. The main driver was lower PGM prices as the basket price at our SA operations were down 16% And our U. S. PGM operations down 21%, [indiscernible] was down 46% The reduction in PGM prices were partially offset by an increase of 22% at the SA Gold operations.

Year on year, again, if we normalize for Relden, costs only increased by 1%.

It is important to note that the positive impact [indiscernible] is not included in any of the financial numbers. The estimated impact for 2023 is a creditor cost of approximately ZAR2.2 billion for 2024, a credit to cost of approximately ZAR1.7 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was ZAR 13,100,000,000.0 for the six months ended thirty one December compared to just under $21,000,000,000 for the same period in 2023. Finance expenses, as highlighted earlier, were impacted by the convertible bond and the utilization of our facilities specifically the €500,000,000 facility for Kelleba. The gain on financial instruments, as explained, impacted by lower future commodity prices, specifically PGMs and lithium, The full year end payments were ZAR9.2 billion, with ZAR8.8 billion at The U. S. Underground PGM operations, was ZAR5.7 billion. Excluding the impairments, it would have been profit of ZAR3.5 billion, Headline earnings per share was flat year on year at $0.64 per share.

Borrowings increased from 33,600,000,000.0 to $39,400,000,000 The increase of $5,800,000,000 is due to the drawdowns of 5,700,000,000.0 under the Caliber €500,000,000 green facility as the project ramps up construction Cash on hand is ZAR16 billion and net debt was ZAR23.4 billion. Dollars Including the $500,000,000 stream on a pro form a basis, Leverage for 2024 would have been 1.1x net debt to adjusted EBITDA. Furthermore, had we included the ZAR1.7 billion impact, of Section 45x for 2024, leverage would have been below one times net debt to adjusted EBITDA. Which is the level we have always indicated as our comfort level Liquidity remains high with headroom at $45,700,000,000 or almost 250% of our financial policy which requires that we have available liquidity of two months of OpEx and CapEx. Our debt maturities and the repayment profile remains very manageable. And the balance sheet is in a strong position. To ensure that we continue to navigate the low PGM price environment. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I will now hand you back to Neil for the conclusion of our results.

Thank you, Shaul. And before we move on, I would urge the audience just to look at the speedometer It's actually marked in miles per hour So the company's at speed. So let me let me conclude with with what I think, the key points are. So record safety performance, however, eliminating fatalities and reducing high potential incidents is a major focus area. The balance sheet reinforcement, I'm very pleased about. And we currently have a pro form a leverage of 1.1 times. And as I've said, better than most of our peers and especially when you consider that our earnings have now been stabilized over the last three half year. Periods. There's no doubt that our diversified port Folio ensure greater financial stability through these price cycles. South African gold op operations are contributing significantly to our profitability And in fact, we at let's call it current depressed, PGM prices, we expect our South African gold business to generate more than half of our EBITDA this year in 2025. Our recycling and Tailings reprocessing businesses are delivering stable and good margins and have created significant value for our stakeholders I think our [indiscernible] of the loss making operations has arrested the declining profitability and you now have three half year periods to demonstrate that.

Our multi polarity strategy has resulted in also significant value creation. So In my view, our strategy remains relevant However, there will be a continued focus on the strategic essentials, as I said right at the beginning of the presentation.

So finally, I'll conclude with guidance. For 2025. And again, I'm not going to go through this in detail. It's It's much of a muchness. There's no major differences from from the previous years. I think in terms of output, the one area I would ask you to focus on, our little Reldan recycling business produces almost as much gold as DRD. Significant amounts of silver, PGMs and copper Costs have escalated in line with inflation. And I would leave it to you to to read this in detail. In your own time. But operating guidance shouldn't create any major surprises. So with that, let me hand over to James, to manage the question and answer session. Thanks, James. Thanks, Neil.

Greetings, everybody. I think I'll start just got two questions here, Neil, gold related. It seems we can't please everybody anytime.

Even when we produce the R3,600,000,000 EBITDA from these operations for the second half of the year. There's still some questions about this one from Chris Nicholson. You mentioned shaft infrastructure issues at the gold operations. Could you please give a bit more detail on this? And could you please give us comfort that these assets sorry, that's Olof and Grant. Give us comfort that these assets are adequately capitalized? And should we expect a sharp increase in CapEx at these operations? On the back of the higher gold price as seen elsewhere in the gold industry.

And then the second one is also related. Unit costs are guided up by 83% to 8% year on year. This is not a disappointing outcome given the restructuring we've done in 2024.

Is ZAR1.3 million a kilogram the new base AIAC for the SA Gold operations?

Thanks, James. And thanks, Arnold and Chris.

I think Richard is probably best placed to to answer the question. In detail. But let me just say volume is a major driver of costs. So you would have seen both in The U. S. And now with the restructuring in South Africa, I think it's a actually a very pleasing outcome that cost escalation is been contained to about 3%. On lower volume. So the restructuring has definitely worked. And I'm sure Richard will tell us there's more benefits that will still flow through. But Rich, over to you just to pick up both of those questions. Thank you.

Perfect. Thanks very much, Neil, and good morning. Arnold, thanks for the question. I think in terms of the incidents that we suffered at Gold last year, there was the one K7 incident where we had a conveyance that caught a Bunton in the shaft. So from a safety perspective, we stopped that shaft for two months while we inspected the entire shaft and fixed those buttons. And then we also had a two week outage at Dreyfontein eight operations where we did some maintenance work on our winder. That is actually something that had planned to be done over the break. But based on a safety assessment and risk assessment, [indiscernible] I can assure you that so we do have detailed risk assessments and plans that are done annually to make sure that our maintenance and infrastructure is appropriate So they are well capitalized. Of course, these are old assets, so that is a big focus of ours. I can also assure you that there isn't a significant jump coming in capital at all. Our sustaining capital and our ORD capital for these operations is pretty steady going forward. What we have in the plan right now is what we will sustain going forward and exposure to the gold price we should see that full benefit coming through on the bottom line.

So So no, there's no capital change expected due to gold price at all. Think you can model what we have right now as fairly sustainable going forward. Chris, thanks very much. I think, yes, just to pick up on that. And perhaps just to to qualify, I think obviously the all in sustaining cost you see reported that I think you've done your sort of comparison to in terms of increases total for the group including DRD. If we look at our managed operations, which is the guidance we provide for, Our guidance is in fact slightly lower. Versus what we achieved in 2023 across the managed operations. So I think as Neil said, look, that for us is actually quite pleasing. We saw 20% drop in total output with the restructuring we did from 23% to 24 So being able to manage that that decline in output and effectively work inflation out of the cost year on year given that they're flat in nominal terms, I actually think is a good outcome. In terms of your question, is 1.3 the next base? I do think we can still get that cost. I think it's the base certainly for the next twelve to eighteen months Beatrix is a stable operation at KIRF we're opening up sorry at Refunde we're opening up a significant new block of ground on VCR.

And at Clif, we're transitioning to a greater proportion of secondary reef And I think as we see those two projects coming through, we can look to continued decline in those costs. So I would like to see a about a further 10% or so reduction on that cost base over the coming period. But for this year on the managed operations, 1.3% is probably a good number. I think we're including DRD, I would expect that to be closer to 1.2. Thanks, Chris.

I think while we've got you on the Mark Richard another question from from this is from Nketeiko Motonzi at Investec. You please talk us through the free cash flow generation of SAP GM assets in 2024? Rustenburg, Maricana and Krindl.

Sure. Listen, I think what I might given that there are a lot of intercompany movements in terms of the free cash flows, etcetera, Shaul, would you like to just comment on that on that change from foreign cost to future? Sure, Richard.

I think, Nkatekou, I think to be fair, if you look at the all in sustaining cost, and if you look at the basket price, these operations were still cash generative. On all in basis, But as Richard has pointed out, obviously, because our treasury vehicle sits within what we refer to as the Old Sibanye Gold. So there are quite a few intercompany movements that skew the free cash flow. But I think as a good benchmark just using the basket price and all in sustaining cost you'll see that for 2024, they still made very good bottom line cash flow for the group.

Sorry, I think it's probably worth important to add onto that is that at Creundal at the end of the year we went from a POC to a toll arrangements on the September 1.

So we didn't recognize any revenue from Kerondahl at all for four months at the end of the year. And as such, no cash flow obviously. And that's because from the park where we normally sell concentrates to the processing body, We then fill the pipeline before we get the refined metal back at the end of that period. So that would have had a big impact on the cash flow as well. More questions just on the [indiscernible] when will the 45x credits for twenty three and twenty four be received? Will we get these physically in cash? Or is it an offset against future taxes?

So certainly, I think Peter Henning, the CFO in in The U. S. Is best placed to pick it up. But for my understanding is that for the next five years, we get it in cash. But Peter, come in please. On the details.

Just want to confirm that I'm audible.

Thank you.

Morning all. Yeah.

Section 45 is for five years you elect direct pay from the first year. We've already with our tax returns in anticipation of the 45 x made the election for direct pay. So from the tax years effective 23 for five years, we will get direct pay.

Post that event, from the years onwards and there's no expiry date on 45x as it relates to critical minerals, you will have this first, you will apply it to your taxable paid at this period. And thereafter you can sell the credits here in The U. S. At a discounted rate for cash as well. So at the end of the day, we will offset it to post the five years against your taxable income, and the balance will can be converted into a cash resource, quite relatively easy in The US markets.

We do expect, as it relates from a timing point of view, we do need to resubmit our 2023 tax returns during this shift to make the claim depending on administration process with the IRS. We expect that to hopefully this year, but I guess depending on timing that could roll into 2026, 2024 tax return will be submitted during this year, obvious, and that will be paid out within, hopefully twelve months and therefore also expected into 2026. Thank you.

I've got two more questions for the U. S. PGM operations. The first from Nkatekum Matonzi. What is your targeted palladium breakeven for the restructured Stillwater operations And I guess we'd have to look at a Section 45 X and without Section 45x price, I assume. And then do you think $1,000 per ounce AISC is still achievable at the US PGM operations? From Chris Nicholson.

Charles, will you Neil, will you go for the Yes.

Sorry, Charles.

Please would you pick that one up? Yes, sure. Thanks, Neil.

So let me take the second question first on driving towards 1,000. So we've set ourselves thirty six months to really achieve this. Obviously, where we can bring that forward, we will. It covers multiple fronts. So it's everything from logistics changes to mining areas, mining method changes, mining cycle changes, material and maintenance strategies, and underpinning all of that is a peoples and skills focused We're really opening up and resource loading current mining fronts, even though it's a reduced footprint. We're optimizing our fleet requirements. And we've got really two phases on the mining methodologies.

Phase one which is going to really run six to eighteen months is to fully mechanize MCF. And Phase two that follows that is to convert to SLD. And where we can overlap that, we will. So I think thirty six months is realistic. There's a lot to do. But this is our intent. And Obviously, on a unit basis, if we lift volumes with better prices, we will get that accordingly. But the intent is to get a sustainable $1,000 ounce cost character To our production machine and then to scale that up with better pricing and as we can bring volume back on Storewater West Mine further down the road, it'll be on a on a more efficient basis. So that's the game plan. Obviously, quarter by quarter, you're not going to see dramatic changes there. But I think over the twelve to eighteen months, you already start to see a shift underway. As I noted in the presentation, $45 is effectively takes $100 an ounce or of ASIC. So at $9.50 pricing, we're still bleeding cash. $975,000,000 We're still bleeding cash. We start to get towards 1,200 with 45x you in a starting to see a breakeven scenario.

So this machine is very geared very levered to price upside. It's also very levered to getting productivity improvements and then volume increases over time. So I I think it's a good game plan that we have on the go. Thank you.

Also and I think it's probably worth pointing out that $110 per ounce benefit from $45 is actually only on the portion applies to the mining operations. If you include the $30,000,000 from the recycling, it actually goes up to over $200 pounds So depending on how you look at these things, it can be quite a big difference for U. S. Operations, dollars 60,000,000 is quite chunky for Nexa.

Some questions on the APN case. From Shashi Shekharat Citi.

Could you please provide some details on status of the case with APN over canceled Brazilian mine steel. How much are you planning to keep aside in provisions? [indiscernible] She's mentioned here that a worse funded scenario of cost scenario of €1,200,000,000 But I think we dealt with that when last year that the claim is half of that at least at most. So Neil, I think that runs for you. [indiscernible] No, thanks. And I think there was one more that came in, James, from Lorenzo at JPMorgan. And he highlights that I see that the potential claim payable ranges between 0 and $522,000,000 So Lisa, there's no chance of of R1.2 billion dollars sorry, claim. I think that's the first thing. Let me say we're struggling to see why there's actually any claim at all. But having said that, we're quite open to to engaging in settlement talks. Remembering that APN has a duty to minimize the damages while we're in dispute. So let me leave it there. The rest, we can't really comment on. It's really subjudicate. Thank you.

Thanks, James.

Okay. A question from Arnold Van Kran.

Will we be able to recoup some of the bushfire related losses at Century from insurance and our insurers. [indiscernible] So I think let's ask either Barry or Rob to pick that up. Rob, up to you. Okay. Thank you, Neil, and hello, Ande.

Let me start off by saying that The full cost of the fire is included in the 2024 results, while most of the insurance payments are still to be received in 2025. Insofar as damaged equipment is concerned, we are fully covered for that after a small excess of AUD 1,000,000 and we've also have full business interruption insurance. That being said, that comes into play after a thirty day period. So in summary, our damaged equipment, fully recovered business interruption insurance after a delay of thirty days.

Thank you, Arnulf.

Thanks. The next question, I'll quickly answer one from John Ray Pitzer, sir, about U. S. Credits. Are they based on profit or cost CapEx? So the credits actually based 10% of operating cost. At our extractive operations, which is the mining operations and then recycling as well. So it's a double benefit. [indiscernible] This one is on a few questions back on the gold again. Hi, Richard, at what which shaft and what average depth is the new Dreyferntein VCR block? And a clear fill in the secondary reef project target the main reef and again at which shaft and at what average depth and does this access require predevelopment? That's from Bruce Williamson. You can see the old dogs ask the very detailed questions. And then one question about whether we plan to reopen Clair Foreschaft.

Bruce, good morning and thanks very much. Bruce, in terms of the VCR block at Drefontain, that's actually quite a significant block that we explored and started It actually sits amongst the predominantly Drifontein 5 Shaft and some of the extremities of Dreyfontein one. So that would be a total depth of about 700 odd meters So that's the VCR block and certainly forms a big portion of what what's going forward at Refundein 5. The clef secondary reefs we're targeting are [indiscernible] We have very successfully targeted these in the past out of the CLIF H shaft. And currently we are looking to open that up at the CLRF one shaft. So that would also be at a depth in the region of about 2,500, 2.2 to 2,005 kilometers. That that locker ground does require opening up, so we do use course, the main infrastructure that's previously mined the VCR, but there is opening up on the secondary reefs, which is currently occurring. And part of the reason why there was a slight increase in ORD costs across CLIF over the last year. Thanks, Bruce. Sorry, second question around reopening K4. So that's something we we do continually assess, but there are no plans at the moment to open it right now.

No.

I don't have any more questions from the webcast. So could we maybe go to the lines, of course, call lines, please?

The first question that we have comes from Marina Solero of RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Hi, good morning. Thanks for the call. I have a couple of questions. First, a follow-up on the 45x given the change administration in The U. S. How likely do you think Is that All right. So let me pick that up Marino, thanks.

I think that the strategic metal we were producing was about let me call it, the green energy revolution I would probably be a little bit worried. The fact is that the strategic metals we produce are strategic in terms of where I think President Trump wants to take the country and make itself sufficient So I don't think there's any any risks related to 45 x for our business Hope that answers your question.

That's very clear. Thank you. And one more, if I may. On Ryrotra Breach, given that you are prioritizing the balance in the current market environment. How likely you think is that you will exercise this option this year? We say to see the Board evaluating late details, but how are you thinking about that? And once you think we will be in a position [indiscernible] Again, let me pick that up. The Board is currently deliberating we've presented let's call it, our assessment having received the detailed feasibility study, I think probably within a week, we will be able to advise the market of our decision The funding of Ryallotridge, we've always said if we were to go ahead it would be separately funded. But I think let's rather wait for our our board to deliberate and make a final decision.

Thank you. Next question we have comes from Adrian Hammond of SVG.

Please go ahead.

Yes.

Good morning. I have three questions. First, for Mika. If he's able to to answer my questions on Caliber.

Just curious why the scope is changing and what the impact is and on CapEx? And then as well as since you won't be taking in [indiscernible] You will be mining raw material [indiscernible] That will be assuming you're kind of moving to a commercial state of production as soon as next year. Are you able to give us some cost and CapEx guidance for this this business or for modeling purposes? [indiscernible] [indiscernible] [indiscernible] or Kwindalein? Is this separate from the Glencore JV? Has that money flowed? Would you do some more And then since Nilly invited the question, for Richard, I'm going to ask what does he envisage as as changes you'd like to implement for the business going forward? Perfect. Thanks, Adrian.

So I'll ask Schult just to pick up the Krome prepayment. And then I'd ask Mika to answer your question.

In terms of Calabas scope and guidance there. Let's start with Richard. On Adrian's question regarding any strategic changes you may be thinking of, Rich.

I'm afraid the answer I'm going to give you is probably going to be a little bit boring. And I think as a company, we've we've spent a good few years developing the strategy that we have I think in many instances that strategy has been very forward looking and really being based on what we as a team see as very long term fundamental issues, whether that relates to energy, transition, whether it relates to multipolarity, think we've given a lot of guidance to the market on how that strategy was developed. And I dare say, I don't think that any of those sort of long term fundamentals have changed. So the broad strategy of the company remains appropriate. And certainly not something that I would be looking to significantly change at all. I have been part of developing that with the team and our board. And I think that's supported going forward. Of course, we always have to look at our current operating environment in the short term. And as well as what we our strength internally And I think as you can hear in this presentation, our focus is very much at the moment on our strategic essentials balance sheet And that we've got to take into consideration.

So that will remain the short term focus but the long term strategy around ultimately growing our diversified base in terms of green metals will remain the long term strategy. It will be executed as appropriate given Mark Adrian, I hope that assists Yes, that's great. Thanks, Richard. Shaul, if you'd like me to take the Chrome prepay, I can pick that up as well. Rich, I'm happy to go. So in turn hi, Adrian. In terms of the Chrome Prepaid, this was done 100% on Rustenburg material. As you pointed out, it was $50,000,000 and it was for a short period of six months. I think this was basically a first transaction to make sure that we that we can execute the Crown prepay. And this does not impact the JV that we announced Would we do more? I think for now, we've done the self help measures that that we believe had the biggest impact. So we'll keep this in our back pocket in case we need it going forward. And then you would also know, for instance, also use to monetize the So Adrian, we have a lot of dry powder. To make sure that we can protect the balance sheet.

But I don't think we're going to rush out and do further prepayments because as the the balance sheet stands now and our liquidity there's no need for us to do anything else beside what we've done today.

And Mika, if you can answer Adrian's first Question please.

Thank you, Neil, and thanks for the question. Concerning the Helicrac CapEx, so as mentioned based on the regulatory changes and changes from the authorities including consequently, some changes on the scope of the project. So as we speak now, We are working on an updated CapEx profile. We have also included into this work our ramp up considerations and risk mitigation on that one. I would say that, within four to six weeks, we are in a position to announce our stakeholders the updated [indiscernible] Concerning your second point about external feed, Actually, not using it is improving our numbers this year because of the current market environment. And we will be on time with the mine so that we have enough on ore which obviously has completely different cost profile. So this is how we plan to do the H1, 26 ramp up of the refinery. Thank you.

I think that's it. We don't have any more questions on the web [indiscernible] No questions, I believe.

So Neil, would you like to say a few wrapping up words?

Yes. So again, I just want to thank everybody for joining the call. I hope you found our presentation interesting. I must say 2024 was a year where we implemented what I want to call austerity measures. We arrested the the declining earnings profile you can see that started some way back already. I believe the company is very well positioned And I would just like to thank the Sibanye Stillwater employees and the senior management team are working through what has been quite a difficult period especially when you consider there's been significant job losses. Looking forward though, I think the company is very well positioned, especially relative to our peers. And again, let me say, I'm very pleased with the CEO succession transition that we're entering into. And certainly between Richard and I, over the next few months, we'll ensure an orderly transition with minimum disruption. So again, thank you for your time. And please have a good and a safe day. Thank you.