Brucite was employed as a natural adsorbent to explore its capacity of removing Cu2+ from an acidic solution. Experimental results indicate that brucite has a good neutralization capacity for acidity. The final pH of brucite suspensions rises to 3.47 and 7.91 respectively with initial pH of 1.49 and 2.09, and Cu2+ adsorption on brucite is 1.85% and 96.31% accordingly. The adsorption of Cu2+ on brucite increases sharply from 9.23% to 82.00% with increasing final pH from 5.01 to 6.75. It is concluded that the removal of Cu2+ from a brucite suspension is ascribed to the synergism of neutralization and adsorption capacities of brucite. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.