Sibanye are not such smart operators, at least not according to...

Sibanye are not such smart operators, at least not according to their recent news and reports.

$2.58 billion write down on their PGM mines.
2,600 workers sacked, and another 1,400 to go.
Sibanye cuts gold reserves.

At the moment, they are a train wreck, scrambling to maintain any profits at all, free cash flow is turning negative.

Fitch revises Sibanye outlook to negative.
The Negative Outlook reflects considerably weaker than previously forecast performance in 2024.
Fitch expects this to result in cost cutting and restructuring across Sibanye's key operations in South Africa and the US. Execution risks of the business plan have increased and financial flexibility reduced as free cash flow (FCF) of operational assets turns negative.

Over 4,000 jobs in total at risk as Sibanye restructures.

The miner recognised impairments of 47.45 billion rand due to the impact of weakening metal prices and operational challenges at its U.S. PGM and South African gold operations, as well as the Sandouville refinery.

It would seem that Sibanye is in a world pain at the moment, and hardly in a position to put up half a Billion dollars for INR, in fact, they are more likely to follow the lead of Newmont and sell assets in the near future in an attempt to also raise something like $3 billion dollars. Of course, this may change, and Sibanye will probably be glad for another year to pass before they need to cough up the finance here, or two years, perhaps three. Don't forget, if you go back and read the INR announcements from 2017 you will see that this project is already 5 to 6 years delayed (so far).

Gw