Cassiterite Concentrate: What Buyers Should Specify Before Requesting a Quote

A useful cassiterite concentrate request for quotation starts with a receiving refinery’s requirements, not simply a request for ‘tin ore’. Procurement teams sourcing from the Democratic Republic of the Congo should describe the material, settlement basis and evidence needed before comparing offers. South African trade coordination can organise the enquiry and documentary exchange, but does not replace checks on the DRC seller, origin or lot.

State the required product form, intended processing facility and purchase timing. Separate your target specification from any seller’s reported assay. Neither an enquiry nor this guide establishes available stock, processing capacity, authority to sell or a delivery commitment.

Sn is the chemical symbol for tin. An assay expressed as a percentage of Sn describes tin content in the tested sample; it is not automatically the amount the refinery will pay for. Ask whether the assay is reported on a dry basis, which laboratory and analytical method produced it, and how it connects to the offered lot.

The commercial agreement should separately define payable metal, any recovery or payability assumptions, treatment charges and other deductions. A quoted Sn percentage alone cannot establish settlement value. Record the basis for provisional and final assay, acceptable differences between results, and an agreed independent umpire procedure before committing to a pricing formula.

Assign a unique lot reference and request its location, packaging, bag or container identifiers, weight records and production or aggregation history. A laboratory certificate for a loose sample is insufficient if nobody can demonstrate which consignment it represents. Where material has been blended or repacked, ask how identity and records were preserved.

Agree independent sampling of the defined lot, including access, the sampling procedure, preparation, sealed sample splits and custody to the laboratory. Name the inspection location precisely: an identified warehouse, loading point or receiving facility, rather than a country alone. Establish who appoints and pays the inspector, and what happens if inspection cannot proceed or results differ.

Specify wet metric tonnes and dry metric tonnes separately. Agree how and when moisture is measured, how the sample is protected against moisture changes, and which weight governs settlement. On an agreed wet-weight moisture basis, dry tonnes equal wet tonnes multiplied by one minus the moisture fraction. A dry-basis assay must be applied to dry weight, not inadvertently to wet weight.

Ask the receiving refinery to define the impurity panel, analytical methods and acceptable specification for its process. Elements such as arsenic, lead or sulphur may require discussion, but this is not an exhaustive panel or a statement of permitted limits. Acceptance, rejection and any commercial deductions should be agreed in writing; do not substitute a generic internet threshold for the refinery’s requirements.

Request the contracting seller’s legal identity and written authority to sell the identified material. Check that origin, custody, transport and commercial records describe a consistent lot and chain of parties. South African coordination or an intermediary’s introduction is not proof of title. Unexplained changes of seller, beneficiary or lot reference should be resolved before proceeding.

Name the destination and receiving facility. Agree the delivery term and named place, inspection point, custody handovers and schedule basis. Allocate freight, insurance, loading, storage, inspection and other costs explicitly, including who arranges cover and which stages it covers. Keep cost allocation distinct from risk and title transfer. Destination-specific requirements need transaction-specific professional review; this article provides no legal or regulatory advice.

A concise enquiry should include:

Suppose an illustrative lot weighs 20 wet tonnes with 5% moisture measured on a wet-weight basis. Its dry weight is 20 × 0.95 = 19 tonnes. At a hypothetical dry-basis assay of 60% Sn, contained tin is 19 × 0.60 = 11.4 tonnes. If a purely illustrative contract pays 95% of contained tin, payable tin is 10.83 tonnes before any separately agreed deductions. These figures are arithmetic examples, not market terms, an assay certificate, available cargo or a quotation.

Send a documented requirement to the Afrimet trade desk for review, including the receiving refinery’s specification and inspection preferences. Any further discussion remains subject to verification, responsible-sourcing review, agreed documentation and contract; no matching supply or price is promised.