A hydrometallurgical system for processing metal ore includes a dynamic oxidative step in which the ore is irrigated with specific reactive liquid mixtures to progressively transform the ore and maintain conditions for enhanced recovery of metal from the ore by solvent-extraction. In embodiments, the systems described herein may be used for obtaining metal from refractory ores of copper, silver, cobalt, nickel, gold, rhenium, molybdenum, tungsten, and zirconium.