“…A significant amount of fundamental research has been done in the hydrometallurgical field with regard to the nature of the extractants, kinetic rates of extraction, and chemical equilibrium. In these research studies, extractants can be identified (Inoue and Nakashio, 1979) as those which are soluble in the aqueous phase, such as acetylacetone, dithizone, and thenoyltrifluoroacetone (Komatsu et al, 1976;Sekine et al, 1973), and others which are extremely insoluble, such as oxime, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D-2EHPA), versatic acid, and /3-alkenyl-8-hydroxyquinoline (or /3-A-8HQ) (Ashbrook, 1975; Kojima and Miyauchi, 1981;Roddy et al, 1971; Lakshmanan and Lawson, 1973;Bauer, 1974; Spink and Okuhara, 1974; Flett, 1977).…”