Critical metals such as nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co), are essential for modern green technologies (e.g., solar panels, windmill turbines and batteries).1.2 The majority of the world’s Ni reserves are associated with iron (oxyhydr)oxides or laterites3, while Co is mostly a by-product of Ni and Cu mining4. To extract Co and Ni from laterites we employed a metal extraction technique using Fe(II)-catalysed recrystallisation and reductive dissolution. Compared to conventional Ni extraction techniques that often involve high-pressure acid leaching the herein described method has been shown to enhance the release of Ni from goethite and hematite under ambient temperatures (25 C) and circumneutral pH (7.5), thus being an environmentally benign strategy for Ni extraction. Although studies on synthetic Ni doped goethite and hematite have shown promising Ni release, studies on natural laterites are needed to optimise the process. X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) was used the identify the Ni and Co bearing phases of four natural laterite samples. Using Fe(II)-catalysed recrystallisation and reductive dissolution on these natural laterites showed that the Ni release can be increased from 7% to 37% by simply increasing the initial Fe(II) concentration. Concurrent with increased Ni release was a nearly 100% release of Co which is likely due to the reductive dissolution of cobalt bearing manganese oxides within the samples. XAS analysis after the metal extraction process showed a change in the laterite composition after the metal extraction and confirmed the reductive dissolution of the manganese oxides. This useful information is currently used to further optimise and tailor the process for different ore types to pave the way for Fe(II)-catalysed recrystallisation and reductive dissolution to be a pathway to critical metal extraction with low environmental impact.