How Sibanye Stillwater Is Using Digital Solutions To Make Mining Efficient. Sibanye Stillwater is a leading international precious metals mining company, with a diverse portfolio of platinum group metal (PGM) operations in the United States and Southern Africa, gold operations and projects in South Africa, and copper, gold and PGM exploration properties in North and South America. It is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, the second largest primary producer of palladium and a top tier gold producer, ranking third globally, on a gold-equivalent basis, as well as a significant producer of rhodium and other PGMs and associated minerals such as chrome. The company is also the global leading recycler and processor of spent PGM catalytic converter materials. Sibanye Stillwater believes its mining improves lives. It has a vision of superior value creation for all its stakeholders through the responsible mining of its mineral resources. The company ‘CARES’ values – commitment, accountability, respect, enabling, and safety – are at the core of their approach.
Sibanye Stillwater strives to be at the forefront of digitisation and innovation in the mining industry to make the future of mining safer, more efficient and more sustainable. It is focused on building an innovation culture framework, with established mechanisms for people’s ideas to be heard and enhanced through collaboration with the broader organisation. The company has identified a number of projects to advance the mine of the future including applying newly developed battery technology in mobile assets like locomotives and trackless mobile machinery and applying analytics and deep learning algorithms to improve overall equipment and processing effectiveness. It recognises that there is significant value in leveraging external expertise to advance innovation and therefore recently established an advisory panel of globally renowned experts from various industries and institutions that is helping them fast track ideation and prioritises key strategic aspects of their digital transformation.
The company’s community engagement initiatives seek to create enduring and sustainable value for its host communities both during and after the operating lives of their mines. Effective community engagement requires a dynamic and evolving process of stakeholder engagement and a commitment to partnering with governments and other organisations. It engages meaningfully, as much as possible with its stakeholders, to ensure that it is in a better position to understand their perceptions of value and deliver accordingly. Sibanye Stillwater has developed a stakeholder perception index which is helping them to identify and address specific challenges, including employment, legacy issues and transparency, and local procurement opportunities.
