Appian said the High Court’s decision vindicates its position that Sibanye breached its contract by terminating its acquisition of Atlantic Nickel and Mineração Vale Verde without any legal basis. The Judge held that Sibanye is liable to compensate Appian for the losses caused by its unlawful refusal to close the binding $1.2 billion deal. Appian said it will seek to recover its losses in full, including interest that would have accrued since January 2022.

The damages will be determined at trial in November 2025. The judgment was handed down following a 5-week trial. Sibanye’s termination was based on the incorrect assertion that a geotechnical event at the Santa Rita mine in November 2021 constituted a material adverse effect under the terms of the share purchase agreements (SPAs).

The event, which Sibanye had previously assessed as an occurrence “to be anticipated in mature mining operations,” had minimal impact on the mine. In 2022, the mine produced 117,000 metric tons of nickel concentrate representing a 9% year-on-year production increase.

In the High Court ruling, Justice Butcher determined that “the geotechnical event was not and would not reasonably have been expected to be material, and none of the bases relied on by the defendants (Sibanye) demonstrated that it was or would” and that “there was no other basis on which the defendants (Sibanye) were entitled to terminate the SPAs.”