Glossary

The vocabulary, defined plainly.

This industry runs on terms that carry real money. A ministry official negotiating a payable percentage, or a cooperative agreeing a quotational period, should not have to take anyone's word for what the words mean.

Precious metals

DoréPrecious metals: Semi-pure alloy bars produced at or near a mine, typically 70–90% gold with silver and base metal content. Must be refined before it becomes marketable bullion, so it is priced on assayed fine content rather than gross weight.
FinenessPrecious metals: The proportion of pure precious metal in a bar, expressed as parts per thousand or as a decimal. 0.8720 means 872 parts gold per thousand. Multiplied by gross weight it gives fine weight.
Fine weightPrecious metals: The actual quantity of pure metal in a consignment — gross weight multiplied by fineness. This, not gross weight, is what gets paid for.

Concentrates

Treatment charge (TC)Concentrates: A per-tonne charge the smelter deducts for processing concentrate. Together with the refining charge it is the smelter's principal revenue and the largest deduction a concentrate seller faces.
Refining charge (RC)Concentrates: A per-unit charge for refining the metal recovered from concentrate — typically quoted per pound of copper or per ounce of precious metal.
Moisture contentConcentrates: Concentrates are sold on dry weight. Moisture is determined on intake and deducted, so a dispute over moisture is a dispute over the invoice. Determination method is specified in the contract.
Penalty elementsConcentrates: Deleterious substances — arsenic, mercury, bismuth, antimony, fluorine, chlorine — above threshold levels attract per-unit deductions or can render a parcel unsaleable to a given smelter.
Provisional paymentConcentrates: An advance, commonly 90% of estimated value, paid on shipment against provisional weights and assays, with a final invoice reconciling to the receiving facility's determination.

Pricing

LBMA Gold PricePricing: The twice-daily benchmark price for gold set through an auction administered on behalf of the London Bullion Market Association. Most physical contracts price against the PM (afternoon) fix.
Loco LondonPricing: A price basis meaning metal delivered in London. Prices for other delivery points are quoted as a premium or discount to loco London.
Payable percentagePricing: The share of contained metal value the buyer pays for, reflecting refining losses and the refiner's margin. A 96% payable on gold doré means the seller receives 96% of the fine metal's market value.
Quotational period (QP)Pricing: The window used to establish the price — for example the average of the month following delivery. Which QP applies materially changes what a seller receives and is fixed in the contract, not later.

Units

Troy ounceUnits: The standard unit for precious metals pricing, equal to 31.1035 grams. One kilogram of fine gold is 32.1507 troy ounces.

Verification

AssayVerification: Laboratory determination of metal content. Fire assay with a gravimetric finish is the reference method for gold; ICP and XRF are used for base and battery minerals.
Umpire assayVerification: Where buyer's and seller's laboratories disagree beyond an agreed tolerance, a pre-nominated third laboratory settles the question and its result binds both parties. The mechanism is agreed before it is ever needed.
Witnessed samplingVerification: Sampling conducted in the presence of representatives of both sides plus the laboratory, so no party can later dispute that the sample represents the consignment.

Logistics

LaytimeLogistics: The time allowed for loading or discharging a vessel. Exceeding it incurs demurrage; beating it may earn despatch.
DemurrageLogistics: Compensation payable to the shipowner when laytime is exceeded. On bulk mineral shipments it can be a material cost and is allocated explicitly in the contract.
IncotermsLogistics: Standard trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce defining where risk and cost transfer between seller and buyer. The chosen term determines who insures what, and where.

Compliance

Chain of custodyCompliance: The documented, unbroken record of who held the goods at every point from mine to processing, with seals verified at each handover. It is what allows a downstream buyer to state where material came from.
OECD Annex IICompliance: The list of serious risks in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance — conflict financing, forced and child labour, gross human rights abuse, bribery, misrepresentation of origin, non-payment of taxes. Category A risks halt a transaction until resolved.
Kimberley ProcessCompliance: The international certification scheme for rough diamonds, requiring a government-issued certificate that a parcel is conflict-free. Shipments without a valid certificate cannot lawfully be imported by participants.
OFAC / SDNCompliance: The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and its Specially Designated Nationals list. Transacting with a listed party exposes participants to U.S. sanctions regardless of where the transaction occurs.
PEPCompliance: Politically exposed person — someone entrusted with a prominent public function, plus their family and close associates. Not a prohibition, but requires enhanced due diligence and senior approval.
Beneficial ownerCompliance: The natural person who ultimately owns or controls an entity, regardless of how many corporate layers sit in between. Identifying them is the point of the exercise; a company name is not an answer.
Facilitation paymentCompliance: A small payment to a public official to expedite a routine action. Prohibited under the UK Bribery Act and, with narrow exception, under the U.S. FCPA. EKNOX prohibits them absolutely.

Settlement

EscrowSettlement: Funds held by an independent licensed agent and released only when defined, objective conditions are met. It protects both sides: the buyer's money is not gone, and the seller's goods are not unpaid.
Doré escrow releaseSettlement: Release against a defined document set — final assay, signed bar list, export clearance, royalty receipts, insurance certificate, transport document and a fresh sanctions screen.

Programmes

BOOTProgrammes: Build-Own-Operate-Transfer. A delivery model where a private party builds and operates an asset for a defined period before transferring it to the state — common for refineries and mineral infrastructure.
Fiscal stabilisationProgrammes: A contractual undertaking that specified tax and customs terms will not be worsened for the life of a project. Frequently the condition on which financing depends.
Local contentProgrammes: Obligations to employ, train and procure domestically, with measurable targets. What determines whether capability remains after a contractor leaves.
Mineral cadastreProgrammes: The official register of mineral titles, their holders and boundaries. Digitising it is usually the precondition for royalty assurance and for resolving overlapping claims.