Previously known as the Membrane Technology Group (MT, since 1996) under the leadership of Prof. Henning Krieg, the Hydrometallurgy Research Group was formed with a new focus in 2020. The MT research group had a specific goal to discover environmentally friendly, cost-effective membrane-based separation solutions for industrial and rural applications with an emphasis on South African relevance. The group’s focus was on two key areas: resource beneficiation and energy production. In 2020, Derik van der Westhuizen took over as the leader of the group and shifted the focus towards developing innovative techniques in mineral beneficiation for the South African hydrometallurgical industry, with a strong emphasis on applications in alternative energy storage solutions.