Major South African miner takes R3.7 billion Brazilian hit

Sibanye Stillwater’s shares surged after the South African firm agreed to pay Appian Capital Advisory $215 million (R3.7 billion) to settle a dispute over its decision to terminate a deal to buy two Brazilian mines. 

The settlement was announced on Monday, just as a trial to determine damages was due to begin in London. Sibanye previously said that Appian could have recovered more than $700 million from a judgment that would have been expected early next year.

Appian sued Sibanye for withdrawing in January 2022 from a $1.2 billion transaction to acquire nickel and copper mines from the private equity firm.

Sibanye’s argument — that a dislocation in a pit wall at the Santa Rita project constituted a “material adverse event”— was rejected by a UK court in October 2024. It ruled that the Johannesburg-listed firm unlawfully abandoned the deal and was liable to compensate the seller. 

Sibanye’s board and management are “convinced that the settlement of this protracted legal dispute is in the best interests” of the miner, Chief Executive Officer Richard Stewart said in the statement disclosing the agreement. 

The company’s shares rose as much as 7.2% in Johannesburg trading, after more than tripling in value this year. 

If the trial had gone ahead, “based on the parties’ current expert evidence, and depending on the valuation methodology adopted,” the damages awarded to Appian would have been between zero and $721 million, Sibanye said in late August.

The company said the settlement sum ultimately agreed upon includes $5 million in legal fees that have already been paid.  

Sibanye operates gold mines in South Africa as well as platinum-group metal assets in its home country and the US. The company is developing a lithium project in Finland, and owns a nickel plant in France, after expanding into battery metals.

Appian is a leading mining-focused private equity firm with about $5 billion of assets under management. Last month, it announced a $1 billion partnership with the World Bank’s private sector arm to back projects mainly in Africa and Latin America.

“This positive outcome allows us to close this matter on appropriate terms,” Appian CEO Michael Scherb said in the statement.