Sovereign programmes
Exporting raw material exports the value with it.
A state that ships doré earns a margin once. A state that refines, assays, certifies and processes at home earns it repeatedly — and gains the institutional capability to govern the sector. EKNOX and its partner network structure, finance and deliver that capability.
The proposition
Three things value retention actually requires.
Most in-nation processing proposals fail on one of three fronts, not on geology. We structure against all three from the outset.
A structure lenders will fund
Feedstock security, offtake certainty, fiscal stability and enforceable dispute resolution — assembled before a financier is approached, not after they decline.
Output the market will accept
A refinery producing bars no accredited counterparty will buy has built a warehouse. Accreditation pathway, assay traceability and responsible-sourcing conformance are designed in from day one.
Capability that stays
Operator training, transfer schedules, local content obligations and a defined handover — so the state ends with a functioning institution, not a dependency.
Programme areas
What a state can request a proposal for.
Each area can be scoped standalone or as part of an integrated sector programme. Request a proposal below and we respond with an indicative structure, a delivery route and the partners we would bring.
In-nation refining & smelting
Precious metal refineries, base metal smelters and concentrate processing plants sized to actual national feedstock rather than aspiration.
- Feedstock aggregation and security of supply
- Accreditation pathway for refined output
- Build-own-operate-transfer or JV structuring
- Offtake and working capital arrangement
National assay & certification capability
Sovereign assay laboratories and certification authority — the institutional prerequisite for a state to know, tax and certify what leaves it.
- Laboratory design, equipment and accreditation
- Analyst training and proficiency programmes
- Chain-of-custody and sealing protocols
- Certificate issuance and verification systems
Artisanal & small-scale mining formalisation
Bringing informal production into a licensed, traceable, taxable and financeable framework — usually the single largest recoverable revenue line.
- Cooperative registration and licensing frameworks
- Aggregation centres and fair-price purchasing
- OECD Annex II conformance at source
- Mercury reduction and safety programmes
Mine-to-port logistics corridors
The constraint on most mineral economies is not the deposit — it is the distance between the deposit and a vessel.
- Haul road, rail and inland terminal structuring
- Port handling, storage and bonded facilities
- Secure high-value transport corridors
- Concession and availability-payment models
Power, water & tailings
Processing capacity is a function of reliable power. Environmental licence to operate is a function of water and tailings management.
- Captive and hybrid generation, PPA structuring
- Grid interconnection and transmission
- Water supply, treatment and reuse
- Tailings storage design and closure planning
Cadastre, royalty & revenue assurance
A state cannot collect what it cannot see. Digitised title, production reconciliation and export verification close the leakage.
- Mineral cadastre digitisation and title registry
- Production-to-export reconciliation systems
- Royalty assessment and collection design
- Beneficial ownership transparency frameworks
Central bank & bullion reserve programmes
Domestic gold purchase programmes, refining to reserve-eligible standard, and vaulting arrangements for monetary authorities.
- Domestic purchase programme design
- Refining to accredited reserve standard
- Domestic and offshore vaulting structures
- Reserve accounting and audit interface
Battery & downstream manufacturing
For states with critical mineral endowments, the value is in precursor and cathode capability rather than concentrate export.
- Precursor and cathode plant scoping
- Qualification into OEM supply chains
- Special economic zone structuring
- Technology partner identification
Skills transfer & local content
Every programme above carries a training and localisation schedule. Without it, capability leaves when the contractor does.
- Technical training academies and curricula
- Localisation targets with measurement
- Supplier development programmes
- Defined operator handover milestones
How a proposal proceeds
From request to structured response.
We do not respond to a programme request with a brochure. The response is a structured document: indicative scope, delivery route, partner composition, and the conditions that would have to be true.
Acknowledgement & scoping call
We confirm receipt, assign a programme reference, and hold a scoping discussion with the requesting authority to establish objective, constraint and decision timeline.
From you: the request form below, and the name of the authority empowered to contract.
Preliminary assessment
Desk review of sector data, existing legal and fiscal framework, feedstock estimates, power and logistics constraints, and any prior studies already commissioned.
From you: mining code and fiscal regime, production data, any existing feasibility work, and the relevant licence register extract.
Indicative structure & partner composition
We return an indicative programme structure — ownership, financing route, delivery model, accreditation pathway, localisation schedule — and identify the technical and financing partners we would bring.
From you: confirmation of appetite for the structure and any sovereign policy constraints on it.
Memorandum of understanding
A non-binding MOU fixing scope, exclusivity, confidentiality, cost responsibility for the next phase, and the conditions precedent to a definitive agreement.
From you: signature authority, and instruction on governing law and dispute forum preference.
Feasibility & definitive documentation
Bankable feasibility study, environmental and social impact assessment, implementation agreement, JV or concession documentation, fiscal stabilisation terms, and financing close.
From you: access for technical teams, and coordination across the ministries whose consents the programme requires.
Before you send it
What we will and will not do.
Stated plainly, because ambiguity on these points wastes a ministry's time.
Work through official channels only
We engage with the authority that holds the mandate, in writing, with an auditable record. Every programme carries anti-bribery representations binding on us, our partners and any intermediary.
Tell you when a programme should not proceed
If feedstock will not support a refinery, if power cannot carry a plant, or if the fiscal terms make it unfinanceable, we will say so in the assessment rather than sell a study.
Pay or receive facilitation payments
No fee, gift, commission or benefit to any public official, their family or associates, in any form, at any stage. Any such request terminates the engagement and is recorded.
Take a mandate we cannot resource
Where a programme needs a capability outside our network, we say so and decline rather than subcontract blindly to whoever is available.
Request for proposal
Request a proposal from EKNOX and our partners.
For ministries, state mining bodies, central banks, sovereign wealth vehicles and state-owned enterprises. Completing this form opens a programme file and triggers the acknowledgement and scoping call described above.
Requests are reviewed by the EKNOX principal directly. We aim to acknowledge within one business day and to hold the scoping call within five.
Do not include classified material, personal data of named individuals, or bank details in this form.