Lixiviation n. Lixiviating; the process of separating a soluble substance from one that is insoluble, by washing with some solvent, as water; leaching.
... Arabic term originally applied to the ashes of plants, from which by lixiviation carbonate of soda was obtained in the case of sea-plants and carbonate of potash in that of land-plants. The method of making these "mild'' alkalis into "caustic'' alkalis by treatment with lime was practised in ... — Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia
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