There is provided a substantially permanent stainless steel cathode plate suitable for use in electrorefining of metal cathodes, the cathode being composed of a low-nickel duplex steel or a lower grade “304” steel, wherein operational adherence of an electrodeposition thereon is enabled by altering various qualities of the cathode surface.There is also provided a method of producing the above duplex or Grade 304 cathode plates, such that the desired operational adherence of the deposit upon the plate is not so strong as to prevent the deposit being removed during subsequent handling.