What is electrowining?

Electrowinning is a process used to extract metal ions from a solution. It involves passing a direct current through an electrolytic cell that contains a solution containing dissolved metal ions. The metal ions are reduced at the cathode, which is typically a steel plate or a mesh made of noble metals, and precipitate out of the solution as solid metal. The anode usually consists of an inert material such as titanium, and the electrolyte is generally an aqueous solution of a metal salt such as copper sulfate. Electrowinning is widely used in the mining and metal extraction industries for the recovery of precious metals such as gold and silver, as well as base metals such as copper and zinc. It is an efficient and cost-effective way to recover these metals from low-grade ores or waste streams.