Ecosystem › Aurion › Coop Bars
v1.0 · DRAFT
🟤Aurion · Copper Instrument

Coop Bars

The 1-kilogram copper-backed cooperative unit of the Aurion Trading Platform — anchoring the base metals leg of the Migodi-Auric commodity ecosystem, settled through ABSA Bank Zambia.

What are Coop Bars? #

Coop Bars are 1-kilogram copper-backed cooperative units — the base metals complement to Coop Coins (gold). Each Coop Bar represents a verified, physically settled claim on 1 kilogram of copper, cleared through ABSA Bank Zambia and verified through the ZAMACE warehouse receipt system.

Zambia is one of the world's leading copper producers. Coop Bars are designed to bring Zambia's junior mining and small-scale copper cooperative sector into the formal tokenized commodity market for the first time — giving cooperative miners access to institutional settlement infrastructure that was previously available only to large mining houses.

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Status: Active. Coop Bars are live alongside Coop Coins as the two initial commodity instruments on the Aurion platform. Agricultural and energy instruments follow in subsequent phases.

Technical Specifications #

ParameterValue
CommodityCopper (Cu)
Unit Weight1 kilogram per Coop Bar
Settlement BankABSA Bank Zambia
LedgerNMX/DMX (Migodi-Auric)
Warehouse VerificationZAMACE warehouse receipt system
TickerCOOP-CU-1KG
ROFRExercisable in NdeipiCoin per DESA terms

Settlement Process #

1
Cooperative copper delivery
Registered cooperative mining society delivers refined copper to a ZAMACE-approved warehouse. Purity grade is verified by an approved assayer (minimum 99.5% Cu).
2
Warehouse receipt issuance
ZAMACE issues a warehouse receipt for the copper lot. Weight (kg), purity, and cooperative society registration number are recorded.
3
Coop Bar minting
Aurion mints the corresponding number of Coop Bars on the NMX/DMX ledger. Each bar = 1kg of verified copper.
4
ABSA settlement
Payment flows to the cooperative society via ABSA Bank Zambia at the prevailing LME (London Metal Exchange) copper reference price.

Copper Market Context #

Zambia produces approximately 800,000 metric tonnes of copper annually, making it Africa's largest copper producer. Despite this, small-scale and cooperative miners have historically been excluded from international commodity market pricing, receiving significantly below-market rates through informal intermediary chains.

  • LME reference pricing — Coop Bar settlement uses LME copper spot as the reference price, giving cooperative miners direct exposure to international benchmark pricing for the first time
  • Intermediary elimination — Direct ABSA settlement removes the informal broker chain that historically captured 15–30% margins on small-scale miner copper sales
  • Futures pathway — Once the cooperative floor achieves sufficient volume, Coop Bar derivatives on ZAMACE will allow cooperative miners to hedge forward production
  • LME potential — Long-term vision includes LME-warranted Coop Bar lots, giving Zambian cooperative copper direct access to global commodity trading desks
Last updated · March 2026