Even with half-year results once again not disappointing,with a 5% increase in gold production and a six-fold rise in earnings, Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said he did not think the results were "great" and that it "could have done better". Although Sibanye was still searching for businesses to buy in the platinum sector, Froneman said the landscape had changed since the start of the year, with little to no assets offering good value, in terms of cost and production, up for sale."We haven't stopped looking but it's not as easy anymore," Froneman said this week.The company, the second-best performing stock after Harmony on the JSE gold mining index so far this year, this week announced an 85c a share dividend and was willing to pay a special dividend by next year if there were still no acquisition opportunities available.An analyst, who did not want to be named, said it always came down to price and even if the assets were not first-tier, at the right price buying them could make sense.story_article_left1Froneman, who has been on a shopping spree since last year at a time when other miners were selling assets and cutting costs, had landed platinum assets from Anglo American Platinum's Aquarius and Rustenburg Mines.Peter Major, an analyst at Cadiz Corporate Solutions, said it was a good thing that Sibanye was slowing down with its asset purchases as it had not even finalised the deal with Amplats yet.However, as commodity prices were picking up again, gold miners were benefiting more as the platinum price was still lagging at $1080/oz.Even so, due to the weak rand and the uplift in commodities prices Sibanye's platinum division performed well with production of 92,773 ounces, led by the profitable Mimosa mine in Zimbabwe, which produced 29,491 ounces. Sibanye owns 50% of the Zimbabwean operation with Impala Platinum owning the other half.Despite some operational challenges experienced at Kroondal and the Rustenburg mines, Froneman said he still believed Sibanye had made the right choice in acquiring the assets and its entry into the platinum sector was "well-timed"."The conventional shafts both at Rustenburg Mines and Aquarius need to be addressed because there are serious underperformances in some areas, but has it changed our view on what we've bought? Absolutely not," he said.Of the Rustenburg mines, one is mechanised and the rest are conventional operations. According to Sibanye, the conventional shafts are underperfoming.Sibanye, which was waiting for the Department of Mineral Resources to transfer mining rights to the company, was still hopeful that the acquisition of the Rustenburg mines would be completed by the end of the year and that it could start integrating the Rustenburg mines into its portfolio early next year."We need to make it clear that the challenges need to be addressed. You can't just leave them continuing [as is]."We need to make some tough decisions - do we put those on care and maintenance, how do we deal with it? Our job is not to close down shafts, our job is to make them work," Froneman added.In terms of the deal, Sibanye agreed to an upfront payment of R1.5-billion in cash each year over six years. But if the assets are cash negative in 2016, 2017 or 2018, Amplats will pay up to R267-million a year to ensure the free cash flow for the relevant year was equal to zero.Sibanye has said that some of the shafts are cash negative, but Amplats has said that collectively the shafts are cash positive.One shaft may be put on care and maintenance, but not all the operational mines, as this would be a waste of money, the analyst said.story_article_right2Amplats last month reported that production at Rustenburg Mines dropped 10% to 219,000 ounces due to section 54 safety stoppages after a mineworker was fatally injured. Amplats also attributed the drop in mining to difficult ground areas, where the mines were deeper and were only producing lower grades.Kroondal, too, saw its production affected by a section 54 stoppage after a fatality. The mine lost R135-million worth of revenue in the year to June. Anglo American, which was selling its 50% stake in Kroondal, said Sibanye could buy the business if it met the requirements and generates value for shareholders.Froneman said Kroondal was an integral part of the portfolio but they were not in pursuit of the asset yet.Major said: "Kroondal was probably the greatest success in platinum mines in 20 years, but they said there's not much more that they can do with it," He thought Sibanye would acquire the other half of Kroondal.The company's nine-month forecast was a platinum production guidance of about 260,000 ounces and a capital expenditure of R225-million in the year to June.mtonganal@sundaytimes.co.za..