Leaching and electrowinning are two interconnected processes widely used in gold mining to extract and purify gold from ore. During leaching, commonly through cyanidation, a cyanide solution dissolves gold from crushed and ground ore, forming a soluble gold-cyanide complex. The gold-laden solution is then transferred to an electrowinning cell, where an electric current causes gold ions to deposit onto a cathode, typically made of steel wool, as a solid metal. This process is highly efficient for recovering gold from low-grade ores but requires stringent environmental controls due to the use of cyanide. Together, leaching and electrowinning enable the economical recovery of gold from complex or low-concentration mineral deposits.