Metallurgy which is concerned with the extraction of metals from their ores, refining, and adapting them for use.

Metals are extracted from ores in three primary ways:

1. Dry processes; such as, smelting, volatilization, or amalgamation; which is treatment with mercury.
2. Wet processes, involving chemical reactions.
3. Electrolytic processes, which work on the principle of eletcrolysis using electricity conducted by a solution or melt to effect chemical changes.