Ann: BP33 Mineral Resource Upgrade, page-111

"Eventhough we are still only producing SC4.6, in November, with a recovery rate up to 59%, at least we are finally ahead of where we were, if only by 2.4%"

Unless recovery rate has a new definition I'm not aware of, a +2.4% improvement is not what has happened.

Lets assume input ore volumes are 60kt of ore a month and the head grade is 1.4%:
5.5% product @ 50%: 60,000 * (1.4%/5.5%) * 50% = 7.64kt @ 5.5% [91.6kt over 12 months at a 5.5% grade]
5.3% product @ 55%: 60,000 * (1.4%/5.3%) * 55% = 8.72kt @ 5.3% [104.6kt over 12 months but at a lower 5.3% grade]
4.5% product @ 59%: 60,000 * (1.4%/4.5%) * 59% = 11.01kt @ 4.5% [132.16kt over 12 months but at an even lower 4.5% grade]

These three outputs are not directly comparable because the grade changes. If all three are scaled to 5.5% grade equivalents then they become:
91.6kt ; 100.8kt & 108.1kt. The lithium units recovered have increased 18% (91.6kt to 108.1kt on grade adjusted volumes). The misleading statement is to quote a 44.3% increase in volume (91.6ktpa to 132.2ktpa) because that volume increase comes from being at a lower concentration grade. The net gain to Core is likely to be slightly lower than +18% in sale proceeds because Ganfeng/Yahua are likely to pay a slightly lower price point per lithium unit when receiving 4.5% rather than 5.5% product. There will also be a modest increase in trucking/shipping costs as more concentrate needs to be moved for the same volume of lithium units. Thankfully Core is close to port and port is close to China so trucking and shipping costs are a minor part of the cost structure.

BTW this +18% is what you would expect because (59%/50%) - 1 = 18%. The recovery of lithium is now 18% higher than it was before.

Now that recovery rates are nearer 60%, the two additional challenges are to see if Core can slowly improve the grade without dropping the recovery rate and whether the volume of throughput can be increased. NB: I've used 60kt per month in this example because that volume is broadly consistent with past guidance of 90ktpa at 5.5% with 50% recoveries.