THE ORE YOU WERE
SHOWN IS NOT ALWAYS
THE ORE YOU GET
In South African chrome, the single most common way a deal goes wrong is that nobody independently verified the parcel. A photograph of a stockpile proves nothing. An assay certificate with no chain of custody proves less. And wash plants are notoriously hard to get into — which is precisely why getting into one is worth so much.
Material Connect treats physical verification as a normal, expected stage of the purchase — not a favour, and not something that happens after you have paid a deposit. Every parcel we place can be inspected and sampled before contract, by you or by an inspectorate you appoint. If a producer will not permit that, their ore does not go on our register.
THREE WAYS TO
VERIFY A PARCEL
Most buyers use option A or B before a first cargo, and option C on every cargo thereafter. They are not alternatives so much as stages.
A · Escorted Buyer Visit
You travel to the Bushveld Complex and we escort you on site. You see the mining or wash-plant operation running, the stockpile and its tonnage, the load-out arrangement, and the producer's mining right and registration documents. Sampling is witnessed while you are there. Best for a first relationship, or before committing to annual offtake.
B · Appointed Inspectorate
You appoint SGS, Alfred H Knight or Intertek and they attend in your place. They sample the stockpile to ISO 3082, prepare and analyse to ISO 3711, and issue the report and Certificate of Analysis directly to you — not to us, and not to the producer. Best when travel is impractical or you want an arm's-length result on file.
C · Load-Port Inspection
At Durban or Richards Bay the appointed inspectorate samples, analyses and determines weight by draft survey as the vessel loads. This produces the binding Certificate of Quality and Weight that the sale contract and the Letter of Credit settle against. Standard on every cargo, and written into the contract from the start.
A pre-purchase sample tells you what the parcel is. Load-port inspection tells you what was actually shipped, and it is the figure you pay on. Buyers who skip the first often discover the difference too late; buyers who skip the second have no contractual basis for a claim.
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY
GET TO SEE
A sampling visit is a due-diligence exercise, not a tour. This is the standard scope we arrange, and what you take away from each part of it.
| On Site | What It Tells You | What You Take Away |
|---|---|---|
| Mining right / permit & registration | The producer is a legal, licensed operator — not a reseller of somebody else's ore | Sight of the permit and CIPC registration on site |
| The operating plant | Real production capacity, not a photograph of a stockpile | Observed throughput and plant condition |
| Stockpile & tonnage | The tonnage offered actually exists and is unencumbered | Surveyed or measured tonnage estimate |
| Witnessed sampling | Increments drawn across the stockpile to ISO 3082 — not a convenient handful | Sampling report with increment count and method |
| Laboratory analysis | Cr₂O₃, Cr:Fe, SiO₂ and moisture on a stated basis | Certificate of Analysis from the agreed laboratory |
| Load-out & haulage route | How the ore gets to Durban or Richards Bay, and what that costs | Realistic logistics and laycan assumptions |
Producer contact details are not disclosed before contract. You are verifying the asset and the operator's legal standing; you continue to deal with Material Connect as one accountable counterparty. See how we verify producers →.
HOW A VISIT
IS BOOKED
Five stages. Nothing is agreed verbally, and the sampling protocol is fixed in writing before anyone travels — which is what makes the result usable in a contract.
THE BUSHVELD
COMPLEX
Effectively all South African chrome comes from the Bushveld Complex. Visits are arranged across all three limbs, most within two to four hours' drive of Johannesburg or Polokwane.
Looking at a specific parcel already? Browse live chrome ore listings → and quote the listing reference in the form below.
BOOK A SAMPLING
VISIT
Tell us the parcel and the window that suits you. We come back within 24–48 hours with the sites that match your spec, the sampling protocol we propose, and the dates the producer can host.
Before you book
Site visits consume a producer's operating time, so we schedule them for buyers with a real requirement. You do not need an LOI or ICPO to book a visit — but we do need to know the grade, tonnage and destination you are working to, and who you are buying for.
- End-users & smelters — escorted visit arranged directly
- Procurement officers — escorted visit, with a capability statement in advance
- Traders / brokers — appointed-inspectorate route, or an escorted visit with the end-buyer present
SAMPLING & SITE
VISIT FAQ
Yes. Material Connect arranges escorted visits to the licensed mines and wash plants on its supplier register. Site access is scheduled with the producer in advance — these are working industrial sites with their own safety induction, so visits cannot be arranged at a day's notice. Typical lead time is 10 to 14 days.
Appoint an independent inspectorate instead. SGS, Alfred H Knight and Intertek all operate in South Africa and can attend the site, sample the stockpile to ISO standards, and issue a report and Certificate of Analysis directly to you. Many first-time buyers use an appointed inspectorate rather than travelling.
An escorted site visit that we arrange for a qualified buyer is not charged for — you cover your own travel. Independent inspectorate attendance, sampling, preparation and laboratory analysis are billed by that inspectorate at their published rates. That cost is commonly shared 50/50 between buyer and seller, and the split is fixed in the contract.
Sampling and sample preparation follow ISO 3082, and chromium ore analysis follows ISO 3711, so results are reproducible and defensible. An umpire or referee laboratory is agreed in advance for cases where the parties' results differ beyond the allowed tolerance.
No, and you generally want both. A pre-purchase stockpile sample tells you what the parcel is before you commit. Load-port inspection — sampling, analysis and weight by draft survey at Durban or Richards Bay — produces the binding Certificate of Quality and Weight that the contract and the Letter of Credit are settled against.
Not before contract. You see the operation, the stockpile, the mining right and the assay, and you deal with Material Connect as a single accountable counterparty. Producer contact details stay confidential so that neither side is disintermediated mid-negotiation — the same protection the producer gets from us on your side.
READY TO PUT A
NUMBER BEHIND THE ORE?
Book a visit, or start with a soft offer and decide on verification once you have seen the spec.