Sibanye-Stillwater saddles up with Chinese in bid for Mopani Copper

SIBANYE-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said he rated his firm’s chances of bidding successfully for Zambia’s Mopani Copper after jointly submitting an offer with a “substantial Chinese copper company”.

“I do think we can involve eastern partners and help resolve a conflict Zambia is dealing with between east and west,” said Froneman in an interview today.

A decision from Mopani’s current owner, the state-owned ZCCM-IH, was about “two to three weeks away” after which the successful bidder would begin negotiations on a long-term fiscal regime, royalties and a stability agreement, said Froneman.

“One competitive edge is that we can be a bridge between east and west,” said Froneman. “China has spent a lot of money in Zambia and it would be difficult for the government to exclude them. That was one consideration,” he said.

“The other is that we have knowledge of deep-level, labour-intensive mining, and work with communities that are centered around a mine. It is completely different type of community to, say, in the US.”

Bidding has been whittled down from about four or five companies to Sibanye-Stillwater and its partner,  and China’s Zijin Mining, he said.