- Assay
- A laboratory analysis that states how much of each element a sample contains, as a percentage. The assay sets the price of an ore and the deductions applied to it.
- Assay exchange
- A settlement method in which buyer and seller each have the cargo analysed and compare results. If the results fall within the agreed splitting limit they are averaged; if not, an umpire laboratory decides.
- Cathode
- Refined copper in sheets, produced by electrolytic refining and traded on the London Metal Exchange. Customs code HS 7403 covers cathodes and also some wire-bar, billets and unwrought alloys.
- Concentrate
- Ore that has been milled and processed at the mine to raise its metal content, for sale to a smelter. Copper, lead and zinc are commonly sold as concentrates.
- Contained metal
- The weight of metal inside an ore or concentrate, as opposed to the weight of the ore itself. Two point three tonnes of 44% manganese ore contain about one tonne of manganese.
- CFR (cost and freight)
- An Incoterms 2020 sea-freight rule under which the seller pays to get the cargo to the destination port. The buyer takes the risk once the cargo is on board at the load port, and arranges its own insurance.
- CIF (cost, insurance and freight)
- Like CFR, but the seller also buys minimum insurance cover for the buyer. Most seaborne ore benchmarks are quoted CIF or CFR a Chinese port.
- Cr:Fe ratio
- The ratio of chromium to iron in chrome ore. A higher ratio means more chromium for each unit of iron, and benchmark specifications set a minimum.
- Demurrage
- A charge the cargo owner pays the ship owner when loading or discharging takes longer than the time allowed in the contract.
- dmtu (dry metric tonne unit)
- One metric tonne unit on a dry-weight basis. Manganese ore is priced in dollars per dmtu, so the buyer pays for the dry tonnes and not the water.
- Draft survey
- A way of weighing a bulk cargo by measuring how deep the ship sits in the water before and after loading. It is the normal basis for the weight of an ore shipment.
- FOB (free on board)
- An Incoterms 2020 sea-freight rule under which the seller loads the cargo on the ship the buyer has arranged. The buyer pays the freight and insurance.
- Fines and lump
- Ore size classes. Lump is coarse ore that can be used as it is; fines are small ore that usually needs agglomerating. Lump generally sells at a premium to fines.
- Flow moisture point (FMP)
- The moisture content at which a bulk cargo begins to flow like a liquid. The transportable moisture limit is set below it.
- Gross weight
- The weight of the ore as shipped, including its moisture and its non-metal content, as opposed to contained metal.
- Group A cargo
- A solid bulk cargo that can liquefy if loaded above its transportable moisture limit, under the IMSBC Code. Iron ore fines, nickel ore, bauxite fines and mineral concentrates are examples.
- HS code (Harmonized System)
- The international customs classification of goods. The first six digits are the same in most countries, and trade databases such as UN Comtrade report imports and exports by HS code. One code often covers several grades of the same material.
- Implied import price
- Customs value divided by quantity for a code and a year. It is an average across every shipment, not a quote, and it mixes grades, forms and delivery terms.
- IMSBC Code
- The International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code, which sets how solid bulk cargoes are classified, declared and carried by sea.
- Laterite ore
- Nickel ore formed by the weathering of rock in tropical regions, mined in the Philippines, Indonesia and New Caledonia. It is priced per wet tonne of ore at a stated nickel grade, not per tonne of nickel.
- Letter of credit at sight
- A bank's undertaking to pay the seller when the seller presents compliant documents, with payment due on presentation. A usance letter of credit pays at a later agreed date.
- Lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE)
- A way of stating lithium on a common basis. One tonne of lithium is about 5.3 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, so always state whether a figure is lithium content or LCE.
- LME (London Metal Exchange)
- The exchange whose prices for copper, nickel, aluminium, zinc, lead and tin are the global reference for those metals. Annual averages of its cash price are published by the World Bank and USGS.
- Mtu (metric tonne unit)
- One percent of a tonne, or 10 kg, of contained metal. A tonne of ore assaying 44% manganese holds 44 mtu.
- Payable metal
- The share of the contained metal a smelter agrees to pay for. The rest is not paid for, to cover its losses in processing.
- Pellets
- Iron ore fines that have been balled and hardened by heat into uniform spheres for blast furnaces and direct-reduction plants. Customs code HS 260112 covers agglomerated iron ore, which is mostly pellets.
- Penalty element
- An impurity that lowers the value of an ore or concentrate when it exceeds a limit set in the contract, for example phosphorus in manganese ore or arsenic in zinc concentrate.
- Splitting limit
- The largest difference allowed between the buyer's and seller's assay of the same element before an umpire assay is needed.
- Spodumene
- A lithium-bearing hard-rock mineral. Spodumene concentrate is priced per tonne on a 6% lithium oxide basis (SC6).
- TC/RC (treatment and refining charges)
- The fees a smelter and refinery keep for turning concentrate into metal, usually quoted in dollars per tonne of concentrate and cents per pound of metal. A low or negative benchmark signals a tight concentrate market.
- Transportable moisture limit (TML)
- The maximum moisture content at which a Group A cargo is considered safe to ship. The shipper must declare it, with the actual moisture content, before loading.
- Umpire assay
- An analysis by a third laboratory, named in the contract, used to settle a disagreement between the buyer's and seller's assays.