1.   Metals can be extracted from their oxides by reduction.

2.   But extracting the metals from the phones is not easy.

3.   For example, electrical fields can be used to extract metal and radionuclide contaminants from soil, while steam can be used to move contaminants into recovery wells.

4.   Overall, it takes six months to extract metals from a cellphone, compared with a month to melt and refine jewelry.

5.   The Jacksonville, Fla.-based firm produces systems to extract recyclable metals from incinerator ash.

6.   The silicate compounds of zirconium from which the metal is extracted are mined in the former Soviet Union, Australia, Brazil and Florida, among other places.

7.   This looks set to change, however, with the discovery of a new way to extract titanium metal that requires little more than black sand and electricity.

8.   Miners have routinely used arsenic in the course of extracting the metal.

9.   Mines use cyanide to extract metals from ore.

10.   Chemicals are used to extract the metals, which are purified by electrolysis.