Recasts with details on prepayment deals
Sept 12 (Reuters) - South African metals producer Sibanye Stillwater SSWJ.J said on Thursday it is close to securing up to $700 million in prepayment deals to shore up its balance sheet after slumping to a half-year loss due to weak platinum group metal prices.
The Johannesburg-based company reported on Thursday a 7.1 billion rand ($394.42 million) loss for the six months to June 30, reversing a 7.8 billion rand profit during the same period last year.
Sibanye recognised a $407 million impairment on its U.S operations after cutting its forecast for palladium prices.
The average basket price for its platinum group metals (PGM)fell 28% over the six months, compared to the same period last year, it said.
The diversified miner has resorted to metals prepayment deals, which allow miners to sell their future production in return for an upfront cash payment, as it battles the financial impact of low PGM prices.
"The group is also in advanced stages of securing $600 million to $700 million additional -debt financing through potential prepays and streams in the South Africa region," Sibanye said in a statement.
The prepayment deals would involve chrome, gold and PGMs, it added.
On Aug. 21, Sibanye said it had finalised a 1.8 billion rand gold prepayment deal to raise cash to help repay loans.
($1 = 18.0011 rand)
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Susan Fenton)