The share of metal in the rock that the plant actually captures and sells.
The percentage of valuable metal that can be extracted from ore during processing. For example, 90% gold recovery means that 90% of the gold in the ore can be recovered through milling and processing, with 10% lost to tailings.
Recovery multiplies straight through to revenue. A deposit at 90% recovery delivers a quarter more metal than the same rock at 72%, and poor metallurgy has killed more good-looking grades than poor geology has.
Recovery comes from test work on real samples, and early-stage numbers are often assumptions. Treat a recovery figure without supporting metallurgical testing as a placeholder.
Refractory ore — gold locked inside sulphide minerals — resists conventional leaching and needs roasting or pressure oxidation. That is a capital cost decision hiding inside a recovery percentage.