The extraction of aluminum from coal mining waste (CMW) is an important industrial process. The two major problems in applications are low aluminum dissolution efficiency and high iron content in the raw material, which affect the quantity and quality of products. To improve the aluminum recovery process, the leaching kinetics of CMW with hydrochloric acid was studied. A shrinking core model was used to investigate aluminum and iron dissolution kinetics. Based on the kinetic characteristics, a process for recovering aluminum was proposed and tested experimentally. It is found that the aluminum leaching reaction is controlled by surface reaction at low temperatures (40-80 degrees C) and by diffusion process at higher temperatures (90-106 degrees C). The iron dissolution process is dominated by surface reaction at 40-100 degrees C. The results show that iron could be dissolved or separated by concentrated hydrochloric acid. Fine grinding will improve aluminum dissolution significantly. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.