Electrowinning is known as an electrolytic process because it involves electrodes submerged into an electrolyte.An electrolyte is simply a conductive solution formed by dissolving positively and negatively charged ions. 

Electrowinning is the process of ‘winning’ dissolved metals from solution by passing an electrical current through an electrolyte containing said metal.  The fundamentals of the electrowinning process have been discussed in a previous blog.  The relative ease of recovery depends on the electrochemical potential of the target metal relative to the Standard Hydrogen Electrode (SHE) which is defined by the following reaction:

What pops into your mind when you see the word, "liberation"?

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The word liberation comes from the latin word, liberatus, which literally means "to set free" or "to deliver", and can easily apply to myriad of different topics from politics and religion to science and industry.

Particularly in the copper industry, the word liberation applies to the act of freeing copper specifically from refinery bleed electrolyte. The process that starts with mining and carries on through smelting and electrorefining is complex with many process operations.  Let's take a closer look at the story of 'liberating copper'.  

On average, mined ore contains about 1% copper and in order to recover this copper from the rock it requires several physical and chemical processing and refining steps in order to produce market ready copper metal.

While silver is definitely a precious metal, the usages of this metal are much wider than just the jewelry industry. Silver is a great electro-conductor which makes it a beneficial metal in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic components. Silver is a cost-effective and high-performance metal for the electronics industry. For example, it can be used in copper or brass connectors in order to increase conductivity. In other cases, silver is used as an anti-tarnishing plating and can prevent scratches and retain the attractiveness of parts.

Electrowinning is a widely used technology in modern metal recovery, mining, refining, and wastewater treatment applications.  The electrowinning process is one of the oldest electrolytic processes known and was first introduced in 1807 by English chemist Humphry Davy. After 66 long years the first commercial refinery Balbach and Sons Refining and Smelting Company adopted the electrowinning technology and shortly after became the second largest metal processing company in the United States.