Abstract: Precious metals are resolved and recovered from complex ores by a repetitious process of (1) heating in an electric arc furnace, a source containing complex ore values with fluxes and a base metal, to which a precious metal inquart has preferably been added, thereby smelting the precious metal values into the base metal; (2) transferring the base metal in an acid-proof bag to an electrolytic cell where the base metal becomes the anode and subjecting the cell to a direct positive current causing the base metal and unresolved "complex" values to be dissolved from the anode and plate out on a cathode leaving the precious metal inquart and resolved precious metals in the acid-proof bag in the form of an anode mud; (3) charging the cathode and any undissolved anode back to the smelting operation and repeating the smelting and electrolysis operations as many times as necessary to resolve the complex values in the source and collecting them in the anode mud.