Yuanjiang laterite was leached by sulphuric acid at atmospheric pressure.The leach liquors were analyzed for nickel and cobalt by atomic absorption spectrometry.The results show that nickel extraction is largely dependent on sulphuric acid concentration and leaching temperature, whereas cobalt extraction is related not only to snlphuric acid concentration and leaching temperature, but also to leaching time and liquid/solid ratio.Nickel is easier to be extracted by sulphuric acid than cobalt from Yuanjiang laterite.It is observed that about 95% nickel and cobalt could be extracted when leaching with 5 mol/L sulphuric acid for 2h at 105℃ and the acid consumption is 1.512kg H2SO4/kg dry ore.