Conclusion
Extractive metallurgy - Hydrometallurgy

Hydrometallurgy draws on concepts from chemistry, electrochemistry, and process engineering, and requires a high degree of interdisciplinary expertise from practitioners. While it involves numerous techniques, it is capable of solving a wide range of problems.

Initially applied to high-grade ores, it was later extended to lower-grade and polymetallic ores due to lower production costs compared to pyrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy is the most suitable method for treating waste containing complex and polymetallic metals, as it is the only process capable of recovering and separating the majority of the metals contained in such waste (a cell phone today contains more than 40 metals).

The wide variety of leaching agents, purification methods, and metal processing techniques has made it possible to apply hydrometallurgy to waste and water treatment....