(Bloomberg) -- Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. agreed €500 million ($557 million) of financing to complete a Finnish lithium project, as it pushes into so-called green metals.
The Johannesburg-listed firm plans to start producing lithium hydroxide – a chemical used in electric-vehicle batteries – at the Keliber project from next year. Sibanye has diversified away from its original dependence on aging South African gold mines, initially acquiring platinum-group metals assets and later investing in materials key to the green-energy transition.
Finland’s export credit agency, Finnvera, will guarantee 80% of a €250 million tranche, while the European Investment Bank will provide €150 million and a group of commercial lenders the remaining funds, Sibanye said in a statement on Thursday. Bank of America Corp. and Natixis SA arranged the financing package
The backing underscores the “strategic importance” of the Keliber lithium project to the “European clean energy transition,” Sibanye Chief Executive Neal Froneman said in the statement.
Sibanye said the funding improves its financial flexibility and liquidity, a day after the company refinanced a 6 billion rand ($334 million) revolving credit facility and concluded a prepay gold deal. It previously raised its leverage covenant limits after lower PGM prices weighed on earnings and it was forced to take a $2.1 billion writedown on unprofitable US assets earlier this year.
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