You already answered your own question right there RV.
5.5% spodumene is worth $830USD or $1080AUD per ton.
They aren't paying that for road base.
Mt Cattlin has already produced product that has been processed into battery grade carbonate back when it was operating before prior to 2012.
And last year the plant was massively upgraded for a much improved product.
The first contract at $600USD/t was negotiated last April prior to these plant upgrades.
It was based on our previous product quality which had approx 5% mica.
Since the first contract, the Mt Cattlin upgrades completed last year have installed new mica classifiers and improved fine and coarse circuits and improved overall recovery.
Contract #2 was negotiated with the Chinese processors once they had been down to Mt Cattlin to verify the quality. The resulting tests of the product showed that Mt Cattlin was producing between 5.8% and 6.4% grade. Note there is no extra payment for exceeding 6%.
All this product fits within the general spec of battery grade spodumene.
The 6% spodumene calculation is a rough guide. It is most commonly written as ~6%.
Meaning "approximately".
Within the 8kt of spodumene to 1 ton of carbonate "recipe" there is actually a fair bit of wiggle room. As low as 5.2% can comfortably create battery grade carbonate. It is normal for an ore body to produce a wider range of grades. However, when you get down to sending 4% (some of Mt Marion's product) you have to rejig the maths a little more and start using a 12:1 ratio of tonnage to carbonate.
Don't believe me? DYOR. Don't take your boss ML at his word. He doesn't have any actual lithium production experience.
Read your Deutsche Bank May 2016 report - the one you use as a bible - page 113.
Mt Cattlin is identified as producing a 6% product.
Read Canaccord's analysis of our product and a comparison that shows barely any difference between our grade and that of PLS.
http://www.galaxyresources.com.au/Investor/reports/20151216-CanaccordResearch.pdf
page 12.
Then perhaps take a little look at James Bay's grades. This will be the one to worry about for you. Much higher grades than the PLS project and sitting right there on the surface like a mountain. Looking forward to the DFS work to commence soon with drilling results.
For some extra fun researching you can also read about the amount of mica there is in the PLS deposit here from your Feb 2016 announcement.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/an...-pilgangoora-li-hotspot.2691734/#.WKyxQhJ97jA
anyway..
When Mt Cattlin supplied it's own processor plant at Jiangsu it was well known for producing the highest quality and most consistent battery grade carbonate on the market. The most important factor is that a processor receives a consistent product and Mt Cattlin V2.0 has only improved.
It exceeds the processors' requirements by a very wide margin now.
So. That is that.