Leaching Kinetics of Valuable Metals

Leaching is a primary extractive operation in hydrometallurgical processing by which a metal of interest is transferred from naturally occurring minerals into an aqueous solution. In essence it involves the selective dissolution of valuable minerals where the ore concentrate or matte is brought into contact with an active chemical solution known as a leach solution. Currently the hydrometallurgical processes have a great number of applications not only in the mining sector-in particular for the recovery of precious metals-but also in the environmental sector for the recovery of toxic metals from wastes of various types and their reuse as valuable metals after purification. Therefore there is an increasing need to develop novel solutions to implement environmentally sustainable practices in the recovery of these valuable and precious metals with particular reference to critical metals; those included in materials that are indispensable to modern life and for which an exponential increase in consumption is already a reality or will be in a short-term perspective. For publication in this Special Issue consideration has been given to articles that contribute to the optimization of the kinetic conditions of innovative hydrometallurgical processes-economic and of low environmental impact-applied to the recovery of valuable and critical metals.