Hydrometallurgia
Hydrometallurgy is a branch of extractive metallurgy that uses aqueous chemistry to extract metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled materials. It covers processes that dissolve target metals, separate them from impurities, and recover them in pure or usable form. The core steps are leaching to produce a metal-bearing solution, purification and concentration of that solution, and recovery of the metal by precipitation, cementation, solvent extraction, ion exchange, or electrochemical methods such as electrowinning.
Leaching is the primary step and can use acids (commonly sulfuric or hydrochloric), bases, or bioleaching with
Purification and separation remove impurities and concentrate the metal. Solvent extraction and ion exchange transfer metal
Commonly produced metals include copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc, and uranium, with copper frequently recovered by solvent
Advantages include lower temperature and energy use, suitability for low-grade or complex ores, and easier integration