Sibanye-Stillwater goes after Australia’s New Century Resources

The South African company, already the largest owner of New Century with a 19.9% stake, said it planned to acquire another 10.92% of the zinc producer on market at or below the A$1.10 per share (A76¢) offer price.

The unsolicited bid values New Century at A$144.1 million (US$99.54 million). 

“The proposed takeover is in line with our strategy to invest in the circular economy and be a global leader in tailings retreatment and recycling,” Sibanye, South Africa’s largest gold producer and the world’s third-largest producer of palladium and platinum, said in a statement.

According to Sibanye, New Century’s balance sheet is under strain due to amortization requirements of an environmental bond facility for the Century zinc mine and potential funding needs for growth projects. These include the Silver King lead-zinc-silver deposit in Queensland and the Mt Lyell copper mine in Tasmania.

The Century zinc operations were placed on care and maintenance in 2016, following depletion of the original open pit reserves after producing and processing on average 475,000 tonnes per year zinc and 50,000 tonnes per year lead concentrate for 16 years.  

New Century converted existing processing infrastructure to enable re-processing of legacy tailings waste dumps. The update was completed in August 2018 and the operations have been re-processing tailings since.

The Century zinc mine is expected to run out of ore in 2027, with indicated and inferred resources holding an opportunity to extend operations beyond 2030. 

At 31 Dec. 2021, it contained an attributable mineral resource of 1,106.3 million lb. of zinc (at 3.5%) and an attributable mineral reserve of 710.9 million lb. of zinc (at 3.1%).

Shares in the Melbourne-based zinc miner soared on the news, closing 42.2% higher at A$1.10 each. Year-to-date, the stock has gained 28.82%.