Base metals across geological and anthropogenic reservoirs: A comprehensive review of distribution, functional relevance, and matrix-specific extraction pathways for Cu, Al, Sn, Pb, and Zn

Base metals—copper (Cu), aluminium (Al), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn)—are indispensable for modern industrial, electronic, energy, and transportation systems. Increasing demand, declining ore grades, and growing environmental concerns have accelerated interest in recovering these metals from anthropogenic resources such as electronic waste, industrial residues, spent batteries, and metallurgical by-products. This review is based on a systematic survey of the published literature retrieved from major scientific databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar, covering the period from 2000 to 2026. Following relevance-based screening, more than 320 publications were critically analyzed. Using a reservoir-centered and matrix-specific framework, the review compares the occurrence, technological importance, and extraction pathways of Cu, Al, Sn, Pb, and Zn across geological and anthropogenic reservoirs. Comparative assessment of pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, electrochemical, and solvometallurgical technologies indicates that secondary resources often contain substantially higher metal concentrations than primary ores and generally enable lower-temperature, more selective recovery processes with improved resource efficiency. The review further identifies that extraction performance is strongly governed by feedstock characteristics and matrix complexity, emphasizing the need for matrix-specific process selection rather than universal extraction strategies. Finally, current knowledge gaps and future research priorities are discussed, including standardized performance evaluation, integrated multi-metal recovery, and comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessments for sustainable base-metal extraction.