Set forth below is the updated
Standard Refining Conditions that applies to all refining
performed by United Precious Metal Refining, Inc along with
a statement concerning the USA Patriot Act. This policy
supersedes all prior policies and understandings regarding
refining matters. The USA PATRIOT Act, is designed to
detect, deter, and punish terrorists in the United States
and abroad. The Act required by the Department of the
Treasury prescribes regulations that will establish minimum
standards for the identification and verification of
customers in connection with the acceptance of refining
material. These regulations require manufacturers, refiners,
wholesalers, retailers and any other entity engaged in the
business of purchasing and selling precious metals precious
stones or jewelry to obtain certain information such as
name, physical address, and identification number. Customer
information will be kept confidential. This information will
not be shared with anyone outside of our company and federal
law requires us to safeguard customer personal information.
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| 1. |
Interpretation. In these
conditions, unless the context otherwise requires: "The
Material" means all substances and material delivered to us
by the customer for refining;
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| 2. |
Acceptance and Variation.
These conditions shall apply to all our contracts for
refining subject to any variations agreed by us in writing
through one of our authorized personnel. Any quotes for
refining shall only be valid for a period of six (6) months
from the date of the quote. If the terms and conditions
stated in the customer’s order are inconsistent with these
conditions, or if they contain a provision purporting to
override these conditions, our acknowledgement of order
shall constitute a counter-offer and the customer shall be
deemed to have accepted these conditions unless the customer
notifies us to the contrary within 7 days after the date of
dispatch of our acknowledgement of order. In such event, the
formation of a contract shall be subject to negotiation.
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| 3. |
Warranty. The customer
warrants that it is the sole legal beneficial owner of the
Material free from all liens, charges and encumbrances or
other adverse rights or interests whatsoever.
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| 4. |
Licenses. This contract
is subject to all necessary licenses being granted to the
parties
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| 5. |
Health and Safety.
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5.1 |
The customer shall ensure that
the Material, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the
substance is safe and without risks to health when properly
used.
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5.2 |
The customer shall also give
adequate information about the physical and chemical nature
of the Material and indicate any possible hazards that may
arise during treatment.
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5.3 |
We will not accept Material
which is radioactive or, except by special arrangement,
which: |
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5.3.1 |
is explosive;
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5.3.2 |
is liable to spontaneous
combustion;
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5.3.3 |
contains organo-metallic
compounds; or
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5.3.4 |
contains deleterious or penalty
elements as specified in the specific terms of the contract.
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| 6. |
Packing. The customer
shall ensure that all Material is packed safely and securely
so as to conform with any laws, rules or regulations
governing the transport of goods. In particular, Material
likely to contain substances of a hazardous nature must be
clearly marked as such with appropriate warning labels
giving as much information as is practicable. Inadequately
labeled Material may be held after receipt pending further
information on their content. Any delays incurred as a
result will be added to the quoted date for metal
availability. Unless otherwise agreed, packing shall be
non-returnable. The cost of packing material and containers
shall be the responsibility of the customer.
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| 7. |
Indemnities.
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7.1 |
The customer shall indemnify us
and/or any third party to whom we may sub-contract the work
which is the subject of this contract (“the Work”) against
any and all actions, proceedings, losses, claims, costs,
damages and expenses whatsoever:
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7.1.1 |
in respect of loss of life,
personal injury or damage to property arising directly as a
result of:
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(a) |
any defects or health hazards in the
Material; or
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(b) |
any instruction or false or misleading
information given or supplied by the customer in connection
with the execution of the Work;
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7.1.2 |
resulting from the
customer’s warranty under paragraph 3 being untrue in any
respect.
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7.2 |
Nothing contained in condition
7.1.1 shall exclude or restrict any liability for death or
personal injury resulting from our negligence or that of our
employees.
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7.3 |
The customer hereby appoints us
as its agents for the purpose of granting an indemnity in
identical terms to that contained in this condition 7 by the
customer to any third party to whom we sub-contract the
Work.
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| 8. |
Delivery, Risk and Insurance
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8.1 |
Materials shall be delivered
free to our works as specified in the contract between
8.30am and 4.30pm Eastern Standard Time Mondays to Fridays,
public holidays excepted. All shipping charges are the
responsibility of the customer. The Material shall remain at
the customer’s risk until completion of unloading at our
works in the presence of our duly authorized agent. The
customer shall insure the Material.
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8.2 |
Unless otherwise agreed,
the value of such insurance shall be based C.I.F. plus a
margin of 10%.
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| 9. |
Documentation.
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9.1 |
All Materials shall be
accompanied by an advice or delivery note giving the gross,
tare and net weight of each container and a description of
the contents. The customer shall ensure that on or before
delivery of the Material we receive full instructions as to
the precious metals to be determined by analysis in the
evaluation of the Material and their estimated fine content.
On the release of the material into our refining process in
accordance with paragraph 11 hereof, the customer shall have
no further rights in respect of any material for which full
instructions were not given prior to delivery, or any
proceeds arising from the sale of such material.
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9.2 |
The customer shall, take back
waste Material shipped to us for recovery if the shipment is
not completed in accordance with the contract.
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| 10. |
Weight discrepancies.
Any serious discrepancy between the gross and/or net weight
as advised to us by the customer and the actual weight
determined in accordance with condition 11 shall be notified
immediately by us to the customer who shall be responsible
for initiating any insurance claim.
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| 11. |
Weighing and Sampling.
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11.1 |
All Materials shall be weighed
gross on receipt. All Materials shall thereafter be weighed
and sampled at our works in the usual technical manner and
at the time appointed by us.
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11.2 |
Upon completion of the weighing
and sampling operations, we shall be entitled to release the
Material for processing in our works unless written
instructions to the contrary are received prior to or at the
time of delivery of the Material to us.
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11.3 |
Where such instructions are
received and where the customer is dissatisfied with the
outturn results, he shall be entitled to have his Material
resampled and assayed at his own expense provided such
instructions are given to us within one week of the issue of
our outturn notice.
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| 12. |
Assays. Samples drawn
shall be assayed at our works to determine the payable
precious and base metal contents specified in the contract.
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| 13. |
Form and Quality of
Material.
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13.1 |
The Material may arrive at our
facilities in a form that may require extra handling or it
may contain elements that are detrimental to the refining
process and add to the ultimate cost of refining. In
addition to the fee for refining we reserve the right to add
charges to the quoted rates based on a variety of reasons
including, but not limited to, the complexity, form or
composition of the materials, causing additional handling,
processing, analysis or labor to complete the refining
process. These charges can be paid by a decrease in the
payable metal. We will only pay on precious metals that can
be recovered during our refining process.
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| 14. |
Weight Basis. Where the
contract contains terms relating to metal recoveries and
penalty and deleterious elements, these terms shall be
calculated by reference to the net weight of the Material
received as determined in accordance with paragraph 11
above.
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| 15. |
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Delivery Dates.
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15.1 |
Although we will make every
effort to meet the date of our outturn forecast, such date
is an estimate only and in no circumstances shall we be
liable for any loss of value, direct, indirect or
consequential, sustained by the customer through market
fluctuations or any other cause whatsoever arising out of
late delivery of metal by us.
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| 16. |
Force Majeure.
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16.1 |
In the event of the normal
course of our operations being prevented, interrupted,
hindered, delayed or rendered unduly expensive by any cause
whatsoever beyond our control, or by lock-out by us of our
own employees, we shall promptly give notice thereof to the
customer and shall have the right to defer the performance
of the contract for as long as such force majeure shall
continue.
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16.2 |
If the duration of the force
majeure shall exceed a period of 14 days and the parties,
negotiating in good faith, cannot within a reasonable period
thereafter agree on a new program for the performance of the
contract, either party shall be entitled to cancel the
contract by giving written notice to the other to that
effect within 7 days after the end of such 14 day period.
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| 17. |
Payment. |
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17.1 |
Unless otherwise agreed or
unless deducted by us from payable metal, our refining
charges are payable immediately on the rendering of our
invoice.
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17.2 |
We shall be entitled to
withhold delivery of any metals or money due to the customer
until such time as all amounts due from the customer to us
shall have been paid. In addition, in case of any default by
the customer in payment of any monies due to us we shall
have the right at our absolute discretion to sell any metal
held for the customer or standing to the credit of his
account and apply the proceeds of such sale in or towards
the satisfaction of such indebtedness.
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| 18. |
Applicable Law;
Jurisdiction; Venue. This Agreement will be governed by
and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of
New York without regard to its principles of conflicts of
law. The County of Erie in the State of New York is hereby
designated as the exclusive forum for any action or
proceeding arising from or in any way connected to this
Agreement, and the parties hereby expressly consent to the
personal jurisdiction of the state or federal courts in this
forum.
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| 19. |
Arbitration. Any
controversy or claim arising from or in any way related to
this Agreement or the breach thereof, may be settled by
arbitration if all parties agree in Rochester, New York in
accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration
Association. The arbitrator’s decision will be final, and
judgment upon the award rendered may be entered in any court
having jurisdiction thereof.
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| 20. |
Headings. The
headings used in these conditions are for convenience only
and shall not affect their interpretation.
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| 21. |
Notices. Any
notices to be served hereunder may be given by first class
mail or facsimile to the parties at their registered office
for the time being or their last known place of business
shall be deemed served, 48 hours after mailing posting, and
in the case of facsimile, immediately on transmission. In
proving that proper notice has been given, it shall be
sufficient to prove that the notice was properly addressed
and mailed or transmitted. |