Abstract: The anion exchange resin AG MP-1 is commonly used for the separation of Cu, Fe and Zn from other elements. Detailed experiments have been carried out to investigate the behaviour of matrix elements during the separation. The results demonstrate that Cu and Fe can be well separated from matrix elements （ including Cr and Ni） using 7 mol/L HCl, with exception of Co. The results of experiments using different acidities of HCl show that separation of Cu from Co can be achieved using 6 mol/L HCl, where Co is eluted prior to the elution of Cu. We therefore suggest using 6 mol/L HCl for Cu separation for samples with relative simple chemical compositions, such as sulphides, oxides and hydroxides. In this case, Cu can be well separated from Co and other elements, as these kinds of samples have low contents of Na, Ca, Mg and Al. For silicate samples with high Co contents, a twocolumn-precedure may be used to achieve total separation of Cu from matrix elements, i. e. , separation of Cu from the majority of matrix elements using 7 mol/L HCl, then separation of Cu from Co using 6 mol/L HCl, with the same column. Besides, the methods developed here may be used for separation of Ca and Mg from Fe, Cu, Zn and Co