Sibanye-Stillwater sells Beatrix 4 shaft and Beisa uranium project to Neo Energy Metals

Sibanye-Stillwater said on 9 December 2024 that it would sell the Beatrix 4 shaft in the Free State, including the Beisa uranium project, to London- and A2X-listed Neo Energy Metals. The consideration is R500m, split equally between R250m in cash and R250m in Neo shares, which would make Sibanye the largest shareholder in Neo with about 40%. The reports reviewed gave the price in rand only, so no dollar figure is shown.

A royalty on uranium

Sibanye will also earn a royalty on every pound of uranium sold from Beisa. The rate rises with the spot price and is capped at $5 a pound. The structure keeps Sibanye exposed to uranium without having to fund development itself. Beatrix 4 was put on care and maintenance in 2023 as its gold reserves ran down. Its measured and indicated resources are 1.2 million ounces of gold and 26.9 million pounds of uranium.

Neo's plan

Neo had already bought the adjacent Beisa North and South projects. Combining them with Beatrix 4 gives it more than 117 million pounds of uranium and 5.4 million ounces of gold in resources along the Beisa reef. The company wants to become South Africa's leading uranium producer. It plans to restart gold processing first, to generate cash, before adding a uranium circuit, and it is targeting first gold by December 2027.

Status

The deal has taken longer than expected to close. In July 2026 Neo signed a site-access and contractorship agreement with Sibanye so that an eight-month implementation assessment, budgeted at about £3.15m, could start while the Beatrix 4 mining right moves through the approval process. In August 2026 Neo said the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources had granted Section 11 consent for the transfer, the first of three regulatory steps needed. Until the remaining approvals are in place, the sale is pending.

Sources

• Miningmx: Sibanye-Stillwater sells Beatrix 4 and Beisa project but retains uranium exposure, 10 Dec 2024
• Mining Review Africa: Sibanye-Stillwater sells Beisa uranium project for R500m, 10 Dec 2024
• Yahoo Finance UK (Alliance News): Neo Energy signs Sibanye agreement to progress New Beisa development, 24 Jul 2026
• Share Talk: Neo Energy Clears First Regulatory Step for New Beisa Transaction, 18 Aug 2026
• Business Tech Africa: The Mining Wrap, 21 Aug 2026

Photo: The south shaft of the Beatrix gold mine in the Free State, photographed in 1987. Hans Erren, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.