Sibanye-Stillwater plans to lay off 700 Montana employees due to plummeting palladium prices.

Sibanye-Stillwater, the only U.S. platinum and palladium mine owner, plans to lay off around 700 employees in Montana due to a significant drop in palladium prices, which have fallen from $2,300 to under $1,000 an ounce. The company has incurred losses exceeding $350 million since early 2023. Operations will shift to "care and maintenance," while lawmakers, including Sen. Jon Tester, propose legislation to ban Russian palladium imports, citing market destabilization.