Copper Supply
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Copper concentrate · verified sellers

Copper concentrate suppliers

Copper concentrate suppliers are mines with a flotation plant and the traders who buy their output. A real supplier can name the mine, show a mining and export licence, give a full assay and accept independent sampling at loading. On Copper Supply every member passes an ID check, and you can post a free buying requirement so sellers come to you.

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What a real concentrate supplier looks like

Concentrate comes from a named mine with a concentrator. A real supplier, or a trader with written authority from one, can tell you the mine, its licence number, its monthly output and where the material is stored or loaded. Volumes match the mine: a small African plant may produce a few hundred to a few thousand tonnes a month, not 50,000 MT.

The supplier talks in the language of the trade: wet and dry tonnes, payable copper, TC/RCs, quotational period, penalty elements and moisture limits.

Documents to ask for

  • A full assay from an accredited lab: Cu, Au, Ag, and the penalty elements As, Hg, Bi, Sb, Pb, Zn, F and Cl, plus moisture
  • Mining licence and export permit, in the seller's name or the mine's name with a written link
  • A recent sample you can test at your own lab
  • A dated SCO or FCO with tonnage, grade range, loading point and pricing basis
  • For sea shipment, the transportable moisture limit (TML) certificate

How to verify a concentrate supplier

  1. Check the mining licence in the country's mining cadastre, and check the company in its official registry.
  2. Test a sample at a lab you choose. Compare it with the seller's assay.
  3. Agree independent sampling and weighing at loading, for example by SGS, Bureau Veritas or Alfred H Knight, and name an umpire lab in the contract.
  4. Run the assay, licence or SPA through the document check. The first check is free.

Red flags

  • An assay that shows copper only, with no arsenic, mercury or other penalty elements
  • A fixed price far below the value of the copper, with no TC/RC
  • Huge monthly tonnages from an unnamed mine
  • Refusal of independent sampling, or "our lab only"
  • Fees for "mine registration" or "export permits" before any sample

Let suppliers come to you

Post a buying requirement with the grade range, penalty limits, tonnage, delivery point and pricing basis. It is free. Members who sell concentrate get an email within minutes, and the Monday market report shows it to everyone. You choose who to talk to.

Typical copper concentrate specification

Copper
Typically 20% to 40% Cu; many clean concentrates are 25% to 30%
Minerals
Mainly chalcopyrite, with bornite or chalcocite in richer concentrates
Moisture
Typically about 8% to 10%, below the transportable moisture limit (TML) for sea shipment
Payable copper
Commonly about 96.5% of the Cu content, with a minimum deduction of about 1 unit
Precious metals
Gold and silver paid when above minimum levels set in the contract
Penalty elements
As, Hg, Bi, Sb, Pb, Zn, F, Cl above contract limits; China caps As in imports at 0.5%
Charges
Treatment charge in US$ per dry tonne, refining charge in US¢ per lb of payable Cu
Shipping
Bulk vessel or containers; a Group A cargo under the IMSBC Code

Selling instead?

Where it usually comes from

Where it usually goes

Documents you'll see

  • SCO or FCO with grade range and loading point
  • LOI or ICPO from the buyer
  • SPA with sampling, assay exchange and umpire clauses
  • Full assay from an accredited lab, including penalty elements
  • Independent sampling and weighing: SGS, Bureau Veritas, Alfred H Knight (AHK) or CCIC
  • Mining licence and export permit
  • Certificate of origin
  • Moisture and TML certificate for sea shipment
  • Bill of lading
  • Final weight and assay certificates

Red flags

  • An assay that shows copper only, with no arsenic, mercury or other penalty elements
  • A fixed price far below the value of the contained copper, with no mention of TC/RCs
  • Tens of thousands of tonnes a month from an unnamed mine or a company with no mining licence
  • Refusal of independent sampling at loading, or insistence on the seller's own lab only
  • Requests for mine registration, export permit or allocation fees before any sample
  • A grade far higher than the named mine is known to produce

How Copper Supply works

  1. Step 1Post freeSay what you buy or sell: product, tonnage, price basis, delivery terms. Fraud checks run before it goes live.
  2. Step 2Matching traders hear in minutesMembers who trade that product get an email as soon as your listing is live, and every Monday in the market report.
  3. Step 3Talk only to checked peopleNobody can message you until they've passed an ID check. You see what we checked and choose who to talk to.
  4. Step 4Run the deal in one roomNCNDA, LOI/ICPO, offers, SPA, IMFPA and signatures in one private deal room. Run any document through a fraud check before money moves.

Free to join. Copper Supply never holds trade money and takes no commission on deals.

Questions people ask

Who buys copper concentrate?

Custom smelters and the trading houses that supply them. China has the largest group of smelters that import concentrate, followed by Japan, South Korea, India and Europe. New producers often sell through a trader first.

How is copper concentrate priced?

On the payable copper, gold and silver it contains, at the LME average over an agreed quotational period. The buyer then deducts treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) and penalties for harmful elements such as arsenic. Moisture is deducted, so payment is on dry tonnes.

What are TC/RCs in copper concentrate?

The treatment charge (TC) is what the smelter charges to smelt a dry tonne of concentrate, in US$ per tonne. The refining charge (RC) is for refining the copper, in US cents per pound of payable copper. Both are deducted from the value of the concentrate and move with the supply of concentrate and smelter capacity.

What are penalty elements in copper concentrate?

Elements that are harmful or costly for the smelter, mainly arsenic, mercury, bismuth, antimony, lead, zinc, fluorine and chlorine. Above the limits in the contract the buyer deducts a penalty. Too much arsenic can make a concentrate unsellable in some countries.

Can I sell copper concentrate to China?

Yes, China is the largest importer of copper concentrate. Imports must stay within China's limits for harmful elements, with arsenic long capped at 0.5%, and cargo is inspected at discharge. Many Chinese smelters buy through traders or term contracts, so a trader may be your first buyer.

What grade of copper concentrate do smelters buy?

Most traded concentrate is between about 20% and 40% copper, often 25% to 30%. Smelters care as much about penalty elements, moisture and consistency as about the copper grade. A clean 22% concentrate can be easier to sell than a 30% concentrate with high arsenic.

Guides

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Looking for copper concentrate?

Post it free. Members who trade it get an email within minutes, and only ID-checked people can contact you.

Post a buying requestCheck a document