For agents

Authority in writing, checkable by the person across the table

This trade runs on people claiming mandates they cannot evidence, which makes life hardest for the agents who genuinely hold them. Nelum makes the mandate a live record: granted by your principal, scoped to what they agreed, and revocable the moment they choose.

Why nobody believes a mandate

The word has been used so loosely for so long that producing one now counts against you. That is a problem worth fixing structurally rather than by protesting your good faith.

Everyone in the chain claims a mandate

A doré offer commonly reaches a refining desk through four or five people, each describing themselves as the mandated agent for the seller. Each is forwarding the last one's email. None can produce the company they say they act for.

Because that is the norm, a genuine agent is treated exactly like the four who are not. The cost of the impostors is paid by the people doing the job properly.

A signed letter proves less than you think

The authority letter is a PDF. It can be edited, it can be months out of date, it says nothing about what happens if the principal changes their mind, and the counterparty has no way to check any of that without calling a company they do not yet know.

Here the mandate is a live record, not an attachment: granted by the principal inside their own account, scoped to what they actually agreed, and revocable the moment they want it to end.

Scope is assumed, then exceeded

An introducer is trusted to introduce, and then commits their principal to a price. Nobody wrote down which of those two things was permitted, so the argument happens after the offer is made rather than before.

The scope is a stated level, not a matter of interpretation: introduce only, negotiate, or negotiate and sign. The platform refuses what the level does not cover — the principal does not have to police it.

Nobody can tell who you actually are

You arrive at a meeting, or a mine site, representing a company the other party has never dealt with. Your evidence is a business card and an email domain.

Your credential is checkable in front of them: a page and a QR code showing who you are, which company you act for, and whether that company is verified — served by the platform, not by you.

Three levels, and the platform enforces the ceiling

“Representation” with no stated limit is how an introducer ends up selling doré in somebody else's name. Every mandate here names one of these three, and the product refuses what the level does not cover.

Introduce only

Make introductions and be named as the contact for the company you act for.

Cannot post intent, cannot make offers, cannot accept anything.

Finders and introducers, who are paid for the relationship rather than the negotiation.

Negotiate

Post intent and make offers in your principal's name, with every posting attributed to them and marked as agent-posted.

Cannot accept an offer. Signing stays with the principal.

Agencies working a book on behalf of producers or buyers.

Negotiate and sign

Everything above, plus accepting an offer into a binding order.

Cannot alter the mandate itself, and cannot survive its revocation.

Long-standing representatives with real commercial authority.

How a mandate actually behaves

Four properties, each one closing a gap that a PDF letter leaves open.

Either side can start it

You can request authority from a company, or they can grant it to you unprompted. Whichever direction it starts, it does not exist until the principal approves it — a request is not a mandate.

The principal sets the ceiling

They choose the scope, the territory where it applies, and the date it expires. You cannot raise your own ceiling, and neither can anyone at your agency.

Every posting says whose it is

An intent or offer you post carries the principal's name and states that an agent posted it. Counterparties are never left guessing which company they would be contracting with.

It ends when they say

Either side can end a mandate at any time. Ending it stops future authority immediately; it does not rewrite orders already agreed under it, which stay on the record with the terms as they were.

The credential you carry

Authority is corporate, but trust in this trade is personal. You are not trusted because of the letterhead; you are trusted because somebody met you in Accra and you were who you said you were.

The credential is built for that meeting — checkable on a phone, by somebody who has never heard of you.

It belongs to you, not the company: The credential identifies you as a person — verified identity, verified mobile — and names the company you currently act for. If you move to a different company, the identity you built does not stay behind.
It is checkable by a stranger: A public reference and a QR code resolve to a page served by Nelum showing your name, your company and its verification status. The person checking does not need an account.
It shows status, never documents: A counterparty sees that verification passed. They never see your identity documents, your address, or anything you submitted to obtain it.
You control publication: The credential is public only where you have consented to publish it. Nothing about you is exposed by default.

Questions agents ask

Can I act for more than one company?: Yes. Each mandate is separate, with its own scope and expiry, and you choose which principal you are acting for each time you post. Nothing pools across the companies you represent.
Does my principal see what I do in their name?: Yes, all of it. Intents, offers, orders and the document record sit in their account, not yours. That transparency is the point — it is what makes the mandate worth granting.
What happens to an order if the mandate is revoked?: Orders agreed under a live mandate stand. Revocation ends your authority going forward; it does not unwind a binding agreement, and the record shows the terms and the authority as they were at the time.
Do I need my own company on the platform?: Yes. Agencies register and verify like any other company — that is what a principal is granting authority to, and what a counterparty can check.
Can I take a commission through the platform?: Your commercial arrangement with your principal is between the two of you; Nelum is not a party to it and does not process it. The platform is not a broker and takes no percentage of any trade.
Is an agent-posted offer treated differently?: It is treated identically on the terms, and labelled honestly on the attribution. Counterparties evaluate the same commercial detail while knowing exactly who they would be contracting with.