Chromite ore, the mineral we concentrate into our chrome parcels

The book

Eight metals, taken up at origin.

Lithium, chrome, copper, nickel, tin, platinum group metals, antimony and zinc. We take them from miners in Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa, and we sell them on the incoterm in the firm offer.

Our book is a trading book, not a shop window. We list a metal here only when we can put you in front of a miner and then move the parcel. The chrome grades below are the specification we sell. For the other metals we confirm moisture, penalty elements and the exact lot on the sample.

We sell DAP, FOB, FOT or CIF. You pay cash ex mine or by a cash-backed letter of credit, unless we agree an escrow for that programme. The documents follow the order on our supply page.

Stockpile of dark chrome concentrate at a mineral yard

01 · Chromite concentrate

Chrome

Chrome concentrate is our largest specified line. We sell Southern African chromite into ferrochrome, the chromium unit your stainless mill needs in the melt. We sell that concentrate to smelters, to traders covering a smelter, and to processors who agglomerate fines before the furnace.

We offer two origins. South African material is in the 40/42 band. Zimbabwean material is in the 46/48 band. Both are concentrate. Our South African sheet is sized at 0–2 mm, the fine fraction a smelter or pellet plant takes from a gravity or spiral circuit rather than lumpy run-of-mine ore.

South African 40/42 specification

ElementLimit
Cr2O340.50% – 42.49%
SiO25% maximum
P0.01% maximum
S0.01% maximum
Al2O312% maximum
MgO15% maximum
Cr:Fe1.30:1 – 1.31:1
Size0–2 mm

Zimbabwean 46/48 specification

ElementLimit
Cr2O346% – 48%
OriginZimbabwe
FormConcentrate

We quote chrome programmes from 500 to 2,500 metric tons a week, and up to 10,000 metric tons in a month. That is the band we offer. The firm offer confirms what the miner can put on the pad that week.

If you want delivery inside South Africa, we quote DAP City Deep. For export we quote FOB, CIF, or the port basis for Durban, Maputo or Beira. Silica, phosphorus and the chrome-to-iron ratio are the numbers your smelter will look at, so they are on our sheet.

Ask for a chrome offer

Pale spodumene crystals, the hard-rock mineral that carries lithium

02 · Hard-rock lithium

Lithium

We sell hard-rock lithium, spodumene-type rock, not brine. We take it from pegmatites in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and we move it in containers or in bulk, depending on the grade you can take.

A converter needs a stated lithia grade, an iron ceiling, and a moisture figure that will survive the voyage. We do not keep one standing lithium specification, because each pegmatite is different. Our offer names the origin, South Africa, Zimbabwe or Zambia, the form, ore, concentrate or crushed product, the lot size and the discharge. We sample before the instrument is opened. A look at the rock and an assay are not the same thing.

We sell to chemical converters, to trading houses covering a converter, and to projects that want a trial lot before a longer offtake. Tell us the Li2O band you can take and the monthly tonnage. We come back with origin and incoterm on the firm offer.

Copper ore showing native metal and oxidised green minerals

03 · Ore and concentrate

Copper

We sell copper as ore, as concentrate, and sometimes as a smaller high-grade lot for a specific smelter. Zambia is one of the provinces we draw from. We also move Zimbabwean and South African parcels from smaller operations that do not run their own export desk.

If you smelt, we sell concentrate against a payability on copper content, with penalties for arsenic, bismuth and fluorine if they show up in the assay. If you have spare mill capacity, you may want ore instead. Tell us which you are. The shipping description, the moisture and the sampling are different, and our offer will say so.

We also supply flotation plants for copper and for gold. If you are standing up a small concentrator, ask us for the plant and the first ore parcel in the same conversation. We still write them as two contracts.

Nickel sulphide ore with pentlandite in pyrrhotite

04 · Sulphide ore

Nickel

We offer nickel as ore and as concentrate from the same three countries. A typical parcel from us is crushed sulphide ore above 4% nickel, for a plant that can smelt or leach it. We offer concentrate when your mill is already making a saleable grade.

You might be buying for stainless steel or for a battery chemistry. Tell us the nickel percentage, the size after crushing, and whether you want ore or a floated concentrate. Those two products do not travel or assay the same way, and our offer will say which one you are getting.

The price is on the firm offer, once we know the quantity and the discharge. We will not leave a public price here that is already wrong by the time your sample is back from the laboratory.

Dark cassiterite crystals, the ore mineral of tin

05 · Cassiterite

Tin

We sell tin as cassiterite, the oxide ore, and as concentrate made from it. We use gravity circuits, spirals and tables, to take run-of-mine to a bag or a bulk lot. That is why spiral plants are on our equipment list as well.

If you smelt or make solder, you are buying tin units. On the parcel we state the tin percentage, whether tantalum or tungsten is in the pegmatite, and how we have dried the concentrate. We state origin and form on the offer, and we do not ship against an instrument until you have seen the sample.

Lots from us are often smaller than chrome. Tell us in the first email if you need a container rather than a bulk stem. We write a container as CIF or DAP to your warehouse, and a bulk lot as FOB or CIF on a named vessel.

Gabbro with platinum ore from South Africa’s Merensky Reef, Smithsonian specimen

06 · Platinum group

PGMs

We sell platinum, palladium, rhodium and the minor partners. The Bushveld complex is the orebody we work from. When the material comes from a smaller operation, we describe it plainly: reef ore, concentrate, or a gravity product, with the basket of metals that are actually in the parcel.

We assay PGM parcels. We do not sell them on a look. Expect a site visit and an independent sample before any letter of credit is opened. Payability, moisture and the split between platinum and palladium belong in the sale contract. We put the miner, the sample and the export papers in one line so you can price the basket.

If the parcel is a by-product of a chrome or nickel circuit, tell us at the start. We share the logistics with the main product, and the documents show both.

Bladed stibnite crystals, antimony sulphide

07 · Stibnite

Antimony

We sell antimony in a smaller market than chrome or copper. The mineral we offer is stibnite, as ore or as a floated concentrate. You will use it in flame retardants, lead alloys, or wherever you need a known origin.

Our offer states the antimony percentage, the sulphide or oxide form, the lot size and whether the material is already bagged. Penalties and the treatment route belong to your smelter. We bring the origin from the miners we work with, a sample you can send to your own laboratory, and the movement to Durban, Maputo or Beira on the incoterm you choose.

Lots are often modest. Tell us whether you want a single parcel or a monthly run. We write the contract to match.

Resinous brown sphalerite, the principal ore of zinc

08 · Sphalerite

Zinc

We offer zinc as ore and as concentrate. Sphalerite is the mineral we sell, and the one your smelter will recognise. If you buy concentrate from us, you will price a zinc percentage and watch iron, silica and penalty metals. If you have spare flotation capacity, ask us for the ore.

We treat zinc the same way as the rest of our book. Origin is South Africa, Zimbabwe or Zambia. The firm offer names the form, the grade band once the miner has confirmed it, the tonnage and the incoterm. We sample before you pay. We lodge the export documents with the bonded warehouse when we hand the cargo to the shipping agent.

If you also need lead, say so. The two often sit in the same orebody. We would rather quote one combined parcel than find out after the trucks are booked.

Before you ask for a price

Five facts that make an offer real.

01

Metal and form

Tell us ore, concentrate, or a sized product. For chrome, 40/42 or 46/48 is enough.

02

Monthly tons

A trial lot and a run-rate are different offers. Give us both if you have them.

03

Port or warehouse

Durban, Maputo, Beira, City Deep, or another point you want us to name in the incoterm.

04

Incoterm

DAP, FOB, FOT or CIF. If you are unsure, tell us where you want the risk to pass.

05

Payment path

Cash ex mine, a cash-backed letter of credit, or an escrow you already use.

06

Who samples

You, your assay firm, or a representative who can travel to the stockpile.

Send these with your enquiry