The problem with vague inquiries
"Quote copper ore, large quantity, best price" gives a supplier nothing to work with: no grade to match, no volume to plan, no destination to cost logistics against, no terms to allocate risk under. Requests like this signal an unqualified counterparty — and are typically answered with boilerplate or silence.
A workable RFQ answers six questions: what, how much, how often, where to, on what terms, and verified how.
The six building blocks
Specifications: precision over perfection
You do not need a perfect specification — you need an honest one. "Copper concentrate, 22–28% Cu dry basis, As below 0.5%, moisture below 9%" is a workable requirement even if you later negotiate each figure. "High grade copper" is not. State your process constraints: smelter schedules have hard penalty thresholds; if a deleterious element is a dealbreaker, name it and its limit.
Volume and frequency define feasibility
A 500-tonne trial order followed by monthly 2,000-tonne contracts is a different operation than a 50,000-tonne annual program — different suppliers, different logistics, different payment structures. Spot and recurring demand are matched differently; declaring both your trial intent and your program ceiling helps the supplier respond with something real.
Terms: who carries which risk
The Incoterm defines where cost and risk transfer — FOB puts ocean freight on the buyer, CIF puts it on the seller. Neither is "better"; they are different allocations of work and risk. If you lack import logistics, say so — asking for CIF to a named discharge port gives the seller a complete problem to price. Similarly, state payment expectations early: documentary credit, escrow, partial prepayment — these shape which counterparties can engage at all.
Verification: inspection before trust
In cross-border mineral trade, independent inspection is normal practice, not distrust. Stating your inspection requirements up front — sampling at load port, witnessed weighing, independent assay umpire procedures — filters counterparties to those prepared to operate under verification. That filtering is the point.
Bottom line
A structured RFQ converts a buyer from audience to counterparty. It does not need to be long — it needs to be specific enough to price. REPT Minerals' quotation intake follows exactly this structure: material, specification, volume, destination, terms, verification.