Ann: Pilot Plant Processing Brines, page-6

steve004. The man is just telling his shareholders what he IS doing. Keeping US in the loop as we all want to be.
What they are doing is what potential funders would also want proof of, that that first 5,000 might not be enough to conclusively convince them to pump in $25 million, or sign offtake contracts on what they have only seen from 5,000 litres.
And NOR is LKE "conclusively convinced" and while they are waiting for another couple of weeks for the 20,000 litres tests, are using a replicate to ensure that they get the same or very, very similar results and that that first one wasn't just a one pony trick.
All going well there, they will have much more confidence that they won't have any hitches when their main test is implemented.
Better to be sure than to be (very) sorry. Nothing to lose and very much to gain.