Abstract:Ga2O3 content in red mud from one alumina company is as high as 96.25 mg/kg in addition to a large amount of Fe2O3, Al2O3 and Na2O. 90.41% of gallium as well as most of Al2O3 and Na2O were leached through reductive sintering-leaching process with spent pot-lining as reductant. Gallium in leachate was considered as a recovery valuable component due to its concentration of 7.19 mg/L. Ion-exchange process was employed to extract gallium from leachate. The results indicate that gallium adsorption rate is 52.13% under optimum conditions including resin dosage of 0.6 g/mL, temperature of (50±0.5) °C, adsorption time of 24 h, and oscillation rate of 120 r/min. Average desorption rate of 92.29% for gallium-loaded resin is achieved with dilute sulfuric acid as desorption reagent. Gallium concentration in desorption solution is 86.43 mg/L, which is enriched by 12 and 4 times compared to the initial leaching solution of 7.19 mg/L and the secondary re-circulation solution of 21.62 mg/L, respectively.