This study explores miniaturized solvent extractionSolvent extraction systems’ economic and technical impacts in metallurgical applications, focusing on copperCopper and nickelNickel recoveryRecovery as preliminary study cases. By comparing a newly developed mini-scale mixer-settler unit plant with a commercial miniaturized platform and other compact mixer-settler unit setups, the research evaluates the cost-effectiveness and discusses the operational challenges for achieving a steady continuous countercurrent fashion in modularModular miniaturized solvent extractionSolvent extraction (SX) setups. The copper recoveryCopper recovery study case demonstrated that the mini-scale solvent extractionSolvent extraction plant developed by the authors offers a cost-effective solution for R&D, with experimental costs of US$80 per test and a completion time of around 9 h. For the nickelNickel recoveryRecovery study, the projection is US$567 per test in about 25 h. Thus, larger setups required significantly higher investmentsInvestment. This work summarizes the key challenges in miniaturized SX systems, such as phase separationPhase separation, crud formationFormation, and scalability, which must be addressed to achieve industrial applicability. The findings suggest that while miniaturized systems promise rapid and cost-efficient R&D, further advancements are needed to overcome operational limitations and validate their use in multistage SX processes. This work underscores the potential of process intensification in metallurgical SX, offering insights into improving R&D productivity and reducingReducing costs in metal recoveryMetal recovery processes.