A process and composition of matter for the recovery of metal from a metal-laden ore, soil or rock is provided. A liquid, non-toxic, low pH acidic composition is used as a chelating agent that extracts the metal into a pregnant liquid solution. The pregnant solution is treated by known conventional means, such as filtration, centrifuging, or electrolysis to remove the extracted metals. The low pH, acidic composition (LpHAC) does not have any known toxicity to man or the environment and performs as an ideal fluidized reaction metal extractant. As a metal extracting agent, it effectively and efficiently extracts gold and other metals from ore laden soil or rock with no environmental and negative health impact.