Sibanye-Stillwater raised its US cost guidance and reported higher group earnings in a Q3 2026 operating update published Thursday, which followed a five-week strike at its Montana operations.
Separately, platinum and palladium both pulled back sharply after Wednesday's US midterm election results, then rebounded, as part of a broader precious metals rally driven by a weaker dollar and lower Treasury yields.
Top stories#
Sibanye raises US cost guidance and posts higher earnings after Montana strike#
DailyPlatinum reported earlier Thursday that Sibanye-Stillwater cut its 2026 US PGM output forecast to 245,000-255,000 ounces of palladium and platinum, from a prior 280,000-300,000 ounces, after the five-week strike at its Stillwater mine and Columbus metallurgical complex.
The same Q3 2026 operating update also disclosed the cost of that disruption: Sibanye raised its full-year US all-in sustaining cost guidance to $1,700-$1,760/oz, up from $1,520-$1,580/oz previously, excluding US manufacturing tax credits, according to MiningMX.
The strike began on 3 September and ended on 7 October after employees ratified a new collective bargaining agreement, though staffing levels remain roughly 25% below the planned 2027 mechanised workforce, the company said.
Despite the disruption, group adjusted EBITDA rose 9% year on year to 10.8 billion rand, supported by higher commodity prices, Mining.com.au reported.
Southern African PGM output fell 10% year on year to 458,202 ounces, mainly on lower surface production and depleting reserves at Kroondal, though the company maintained its 1.65-1.75 million ounce guidance for its southern African mines.
Gold production fell 12% to 155,449 ounces. CEO Richard Stewart also addressed the company's Finnish lithium project, saying a staged commissioning approach "prioritises stable mining and concentrator performance before the refinery start-up, reducing integrated ramp-up risk and preserving capital flexibility," according to MiningMX. For background on the company's PGM footprint, see our Sibanye-Stillwater production page.
Platinum rebounds sharply as midterm election rally lifts the metals complex#
Platinum fell to around $1,388.90 on Wednesday before staging a sharp recovery, briefly slipping below a key Fibonacci support level before buyers stepped back in, according to a technical analysis published by FXStreet.
The move came as the broader precious metals complex rallied after Tuesday's US midterm elections delivered Democratic control of both chambers of Congress; Kitco News reported that the result sent the US dollar and Treasury yields lower, which in turn drew renewed buying into precious metals.
Spot gold climbed back above $4,000/oz on Wednesday and was trading near $4,041.30, up 2.85% on the session, Kitco's Wednesday AM report said. By Thursday, spot gold had extended its advance to around $4,134.83/oz, with spot platinum near $1,527.65, up 2.1% on the day, according to Discovery Alert.
Platinum had lost around 16% of its value in October before the bounce, according to a November 5 market commentary from Price Futures Group. Track the metal's intraday moves on our platinum price page.
Palladium reclaims $1,000/oz after a sharp October slide#
Palladium, which DailyPlatinum reported had fallen to its lowest level in 16 months earlier this week, rose to $1,034.00 per troy ounce on 5 November 2026, up 3.09% from the previous day, according to Trading Economics, a CFD-tracking series.
Price Futures Group's November 5 Manic Metals Report said palladium had fallen roughly 19% in October, starting November below $1,000/oz, before the midterm-driven rally lifted the metal back above that level. The metal remains well below its 2021-2022 highs. See live levels on our palladium price page.
Prices and market context#
Platinum traded in a range of roughly $1,527-$1,543/oz across several dealer and spot feeds on 5 November 2026, up around 2% on the day, while palladium traded in a range of roughly $1,034-$1,058/oz, up between about 1.6% and 4.5% depending on the series and the time of the snapshot, reflecting the fast-moving nature of Thursday's rally.
The moves came against a backdrop of a weaker US dollar and falling Treasury yields following this week's midterm election results, which also lifted gold back above $4,000/oz for the first time since October's correction, according to Kitco News.
On fundamentals, WPIC's Q2 2026 Platinum Quarterly, published 9 September 2026, revised its 2026 platinum market outlook to a 265,000-ounce surplus from a 297,000-ounce deficit forecast in Q1, while raising its estimate of the 2025 deficit to more than 1 million ounces; above-ground platinum stocks were projected at about 3.4 months of demand by the end of 2026.
Sibanye's higher US cost guidance and reduced output add a fresh data point on the supply side of that balance, even as the company maintained its southern African production guidance range. For more on investing in the metal, see our investing in platinum page.
What to watch#
- Sibanye-Stillwater's fourth-quarter production update, which the company said will show the full impact of the strike on sales volumes once inventory levels normalize, according to MiningMX.
- Heraeus's next annual Precious Forecast, expected in November 2026 based on the firm's established publication cadence.
Sources: Mining.com (https://www.mining.com/sibanye-cuts-us-output-forecast-after-five-week-strike/), MiningMX (http://www.miningmx.com/2026-11-05-sibanye-sibanye-slashes-us-platinum-forecast-after-strike/), Mining.com.au (https://mining.com.au/sibanye-cuts-us-platinum-group-metals-output-forecast-after-strike/), Finimize (https://finimize.com/content/sibanye-cuts-2026-us-pgm-output-forecast-after-strike), Kitco News (https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2026-11-04/gold-and-silver-surge-democratic-midterm-sweep-drives-dollar-yields-lower), FXStreet (https://www.fxstreet.com/analysis/gold-surges-platinum-hits-our-target-can-the-bulls-keep-going-202611041949), Trading Economics (https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/palladium), Discovery Alert (https://discoveryalert.com/news/gold-price-dollar-yields-fed-hike-november-2026/), Price Futures Group - Manic Metals Report (https://blog.pricegroup.com/2026/11/05/mid-term-metals-melt-up-manic-metals-report-11-05-2026/)