Frequently asked questions

Ore is rock mined straight from the ground that carries a payable amount of a metal. Concentrate is that ore crushed, ground and upgraded — usually by gravity or flotation — so the metal content is several times higher and freight is cheaper per contained tonne. Refined metal is the finished product after smelting and refining, sold as bar, cathode or ingot. KWE Metals LLC ships all three depending on the commodity and the buyer's downstream setup.

Base metals such as copper, nickel, zinc and iron are reported as a percentage of the rock by weight (for example 12% Cu). Precious metals are reported in grams per tonne (g/t) or troy ounces per tonne because they occur in far smaller amounts. Every KWE parcel is split and sampled on site, read on a handheld or benchtop XRF spectrometer, and confirmed by an independent laboratory before terms are agreed.

An assay is the laboratory determination of how much of each element a sample contains. Contracts pay on contained metal, not gross weight, so the assay — together with moisture content and the agreed payable percentage — is what turns a benchmark price into an invoice figure. Buyers receive the full assay pack: sample IDs, spectrometer readings, moisture determination and laboratory certificates.

Smelters and refiners recover slightly less metal than the assay shows, and they charge for the work. The payable percentage is the agreed share of contained metal the buyer pays for, after which treatment and refining charges are deducted. A copper concentrate might be, for instance, 96% payable against LME Grade A cash less a treatment charge per dry metric tonne.

Gold, silver and platinum-group metals are quoted per troy ounce (31.1035 g). Copper trades per pound on COMEX and per tonne on the LME. Iron ore trades per dry metric tonne against the 62% Fe CFR China index. Our live pricing tools convert between troy ounce, gram, kilogram, pound and metric tonne so you can compare a lot on whatever basis your desk uses.

A doré bar is a semi-pure alloy poured on site, typically 85–96% gold with silver and trace base metals making up the balance. It is an intermediate product: the refiner buys it on fine content, not gross weight. Every KWE doré bar is stamped, serialised, photographed at pour, weighed on calibrated scales and read on a laser spectrometer before it leaves the site.

Antimony is not exchange-traded with a free public tick feed. It settles against SMM China and Rotterdam spot assessments, which are subscription-published. We quote antimony and antimony–gold lots from those assessments on the day of delivery, with gold credits priced separately against live spot.

The geological work on the Honduran concessions was carried out by Consultores Geología de Centroamérica S.A. and certified to Behre Dolbear Capital Inc., an internationally recognised minerals-industry advisory firm. The reserve summary covering our concession package is presented in the in-ground resources section of the home page, with the full disclosure card and citations.

The summary reports approximately 900,000,000 metric tonnes of copper-bearing material and 623,000,000 metric tonnes of iron ore across the concession package, alongside gold and silver occurrences identified in sampling.

Those are individual sample maxima — the highest gold and silver values returned from specific samples — not average grades across the deposit, and not a statement of contained ounces. High-grade sample results are an exploration indicator only. Average grade can only be established through a systematic drill programme reported to a recognised standard.

No. The figures on this site are presented as a technical disclosure summary in an NI 43-101 style format for readability, but they are not a current mineral resource or mineral reserve estimate prepared and signed off by a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, JORC or SK-1300. Investors and buyers should treat them as historical and indicative, and should request the underlying documentation directly.

Serious counterparties — offtakers, financiers and analysts — can request the reserve documentation and supporting sampling records under NDA. Call +1-844-593-4766, Monday to Friday 9am–5pm EST, or use the enquiry form on the home page. Background on the certifying firm is available at dolbear.com.

No. In-ground resource figures describe the concession package; individual shipments are priced solely on the assayed content of the specific parcel against the live benchmark for that metal. Nothing in the reserve summary is used to set a lot price.

Four operating practices: progressive reclamation of benches as they are worked out rather than at closure; lined leach and stockpile pads so that process solution and run-off do not reach soil or watercourses; closed-loop water handling with settlement and reuse instead of discharge; and community water, sanitation and access projects beside the sites we operate.

Worked-out benches are re-profiled, capped with stored topsoil and replanted with local species while the rest of the site is still active. Reclaiming progressively rather than at the end of mine life keeps disturbed ground to the minimum needed at any one time and reduces erosion into the surrounding drainage.

Process and wash water runs in a closed circuit: solution is collected on lined pads, settled in sequenced ponds and returned to the circuit rather than discharged. Surface run-off from haul roads and stockpiles is diverted into sediment traps before it can reach natural watercourses.

Our gold recovery is built around gravity separation — sluices and concentration circuits — followed by controlled smelting to doré. Displacing informal mercury amalgamation, which is widespread in artisanal Central American gold mining and poses a serious health risk to the people doing it, is one of the specific goals of formalising operations on our ground.

Formal employment with documented conditions, road and access improvements that outlast the mine, and clean-water and sanitation projects for the settlements next to our concessions. Formalisation also brings sampling, safety and environmental practice to ground that would otherwise be worked informally with none of them.

The operating practices described here are company statements of how our sites are run, not third-party certifications, and we do not present them as such. Counterparties conducting environmental or ESG due diligence can arrange a site visit and receive our sampling, water-handling and reclamation records under NDA.

Yes. Every lot carries its site of origin, sampling records, XRF readings and independent laboratory assay certificates, which is what downstream buyers need for their own responsible-sourcing and due-diligence reporting — particularly for cobalt and other scrutinised battery-chain metals.