A

Additionality — A test of whether an emissions reduction or removal would have happened without carbon finance.
Adit — A horizontal tunnel used to access an underground mine.
Agglomeration — The process of binding fine particles into larger, usable pieces.
Alumina — Refined aluminium oxide produced from bauxite.
Aluminium — A lightweight base metal widely used in construction and transport.
Anode — The positive electrode in electrolysis; also a metal input in refining.
Assessment — An evaluated market price for a defined specification, location and time.
Assay — Laboratory analysis to determine a material’s composition or grade.

B

Backwards (Backwardation) — A market where near‑term prices are higher than forward prices.
Baseline — The reference scenario used to measure emissions reductions.
Benchmark — A widely used reference price for contracts and valuation.
Beneficiation — Processing ore to improve its economic value.
Billet — A semi‑finished metal product, usually square or round.
Black mass — Powder produced from shredded batteries containing valuable metals.
Bloom — A large semi‑finished steel product.
BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) — Steelmaking process converting hot metal into steel.
Briquettes — Compacted material formed for easier transport and use.

C

Carbon credit — A tradable unit representing one tonne of CO₂ equivalent.
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) — A common unit for comparing greenhouse gases.
Carbon market — A system for trading emissions allowances or credits.
Carbon premium — An additional price paid for lower‑emissions material.
Cathode — The negative electrode in electrolysis; also a battery electrode.
CBAM — A mechanism that applies a carbon cost to imported goods.
CIF — Price including cost, insurance and freight to destination.
Coking coal — Coal used to produce coke for blast furnaces.
Concentrate — An upgraded mineral product ready for smelting or refining.
Contango — A market where forward prices are higher than spot prices.

D

Deal — A completed transaction.
Differential — The price difference relative to a reference benchmark.
Dilution — Waste material mixed into ore, reducing grade.
Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) — Iron produced without melting ore.
Discount — A price below a reference level.
Duty paid — A price that includes import duties.

E

EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) — Steelmaking process using electricity and scrap or DRI.
Electrowinning — Recovery of metal using an electric current.
Emissions intensity — Emissions per unit of product, typically tCO₂e per tonne.

F

Fe content — The iron percentage in iron ore.
Ferroalloy — An iron‑based alloy used in steelmaking.
Flotation — Separation method using bubbles to concentrate minerals.
FOB — Price where the buyer takes responsibility once goods are loaded.

G

Gangue — Non‑valuable material associated with ore.
Grade — The concentration of valuable material in ore.
Green premium — Extra value assigned to lower‑carbon material.

H

HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron) — Compacted DRI suitable for transport and steelmaking.
Hedging — Using financial instruments to reduce price risk.
Hot metal — Molten iron produced in a blast furnace.

I

Index — A calculated benchmark price derived from market inputs.
Indication — Non‑binding market price information.
Industrial minerals — Non‑metallic minerals used in manufacturing.

L

Lead time — The time between order and delivery.
Leakage — When emissions reductions in one area cause increases elsewhere.
Liquidity — How easily a market can absorb trades without price disruption.
Lithium carbonate — A key lithium chemical used in batteries.
Lithium hydroxide — A lithium chemical used in high‑nickel batteries.

M

Margin — Collateral posted against trading risk.
Mass balance — An accounting method for tracking material inputs and outputs.
Metallurgical coal — Coal suitable for coke production.
Midpoint — The centre of an assessed price range.
Mining reserve — Economically mineable material.

N

Nickel pig iron (NPI) — A nickel‑bearing iron used in stainless steel production.
Non‑ferrous metals — Metals other than iron and steel.

O

Ore — Rock containing economically valuable minerals.
Origin — The country or region where material is produced.

P

Payability — The percentage of contained metal paid for in a concentrate.
Pellets — Spherical agglomerated iron ore.
Permanence — The durability of a carbon removal or reduction.
Premium — A price above a benchmark.
Processing — Converting raw materials into usable products.

R

Range — The high‑low span of an assessed price.
Recovery — The percentage of metal extracted from ore.
Refining — Purifying metal to final specification.
Reserve — The mineable portion of a resource.

S

Scrap — Recycled metal feedstock.
Settlement price — The official closing price for a trading period.
Slab — A flat semi‑finished steel product.
Slag — Non‑metallic by‑product of smelting or steelmaking.
Smelting — Extracting metal using heat and chemical reactions.
Specification — Defined quality, chemistry and delivery terms.
Spodumene — A lithium‑bearing mineral used in battery supply chains.
Spread — The price difference between two products or time periods.

T

Tailings — Waste material remaining after processing.
TC/RC — Charges for treating and refining concentrates.
Trade — A completed market transaction.

V

Volatility — The degree of price fluctuation over time.
Voluntary carbon market — A non‑regulated market for carbon credits.

W

Warehouse premium — A surcharge reflecting storage location and availability.
Wet metric tonne (wmt) — Weight including moisture content.

Z

Zero‑carbon — A claim that no net emissions are associated with a product.