Processes for recovering metals from aqueous solutions

Provided herein are processes for recovering molybdenum and/or other value metals (e.g., uranium) present in aqueous solutions from a large range of concentrations: from ppm to grams per liter via a solvent extraction process by extracting the molybdenum and/or other value metal from the aqueous solution by contacting it with an organic phase solution containing a phosphinic acid, stripping the molybdenum and/or other value metal from the organic phase solution by contacting it with an aqueous phase strip solution containing an inorganic compound and having a 1.0 M concentration of free ammonia, and recovering the molybdenum and/or other value metal by separating it from the aqueous phase strip solution. When the molybdenum and/or other value metal are present only in low concentration, the processes can include an organic phase recycle step and/or an aqueous phase strip recycle step in order to concentrate the metal prior to recover.