JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Chrome is a growing value contributor to the revenue base of Sibanye-Stillwater’s South Africa platinum group metals (PGM) portfolio, delivering margins, resilience and project support.

Chrome has also been a stable income generator for Sibanye-Stillwater during periods of low PGMs pricing. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

In 2025, chrome contributed 8% of the revenue of Sibanye-Stillwater’s South Africa PGM operations and it has been an enabler of project feasibilities and an extender of the life of tailing facilities.

“We’re on the path to be a chrome producer to be reckoned with. We currently do 10% of South Africa's chrome production, 5% worldwide. If we achieve the chrome growth that is projected, we will exceed that 10% by quite a significant amount,” Sibanye-Stillwater VP chrome and base metals Babsie Crane commented during Sibanye-Stillwater’s Capital Markets Day covered by Mining Weekly.

The chrome management agreement that Sibanye-Stillwater signed with Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture in 2025 repositions the commercial terms of legacy contracts and attracts considerable value earlier.

The agreement creates an opportunity to join technology forces as it relates to fine chrome along with operational synergies through the combined asset footprint, taking in infrastructure, laboratory training, research and development capability, as well as processing capacity.

In addition, chrome recovery infrastructure maximises value from upper group two (UG2) tailings.

Sibanye-Stillwater owns six of the 12 chrome recovery plants on its footprint and Glencore five, making way for synergies to be unlocked.

Expansion plans are pointing to a 75% increase in chrome volumes, which will enhance Sibanye’s domestic and global market positions and attract market-related prices, for both surface as well as underground.

From a chrome production level of one million tons of chrome a year in 2016, the company is expected to produce chrome at a rate of 2.3-million tons a year until 2033.

Major global chrome producers are South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, India, and Turkey.

South Africa's production this year of 26-million tons is going to be roughly 61% of global supply.

Around 13% of this is used in South Africa to produce ferrochrome, and the rest is exported largely to China and Indonesia, which lead demand growth.

Around 95% of chrome ore is used in ferrochrome production, which then goes into stainless steels and alloys, with the remainder used in various specialty applications such as chemicals for leather tanning, foundry sands and refractories.

This year the market is expected to be fairly finely balanced. Supply is expected to grow by about 5.8% year-on-year to meet the 44-million tons of demand.

“It's a very fragile balance, and as you can see, as you look out to 2034 that deficit is growing substantially,” Sibanye-Stillwater executive VP sales and marketing Kleantha Pillay pointed out.

The current spot price for South African chrome ore of 40% to 42% concentrate is about $295/t taking in cost, insurance and freight to China. For higher 42% to 44% concentrate grades, the price ranges from $310/t to $320/t.

Interestingly, the production cost for UG2 byproduct chrome ore is around 60% of primary chrome production in South Africa.