The study of succinic acid as a leaching agent has been undertaken to probe the leaching of naturally occurring magnesite samples. The influence of various reaction conditions (acidic strength, particle size of the magnesite, liquid to solid proportion, reaction temperature and stirring rate) was investigated. The results indicated that the extraction of magnesium depends on acidic strength, reaction temperature, ore particle size, stirring rate and liquid solid ratio. The application of graphical and statistical approaches for the analysis of kinetic data revealed that the rate of extraction of magnesium from natural magnesite is determined by the chemical reaction step. The calculated energy of activation for the dissolution of magnesite is 45.197 kJ mol(-1) in the reaction temperature span of 313 K to 343 K. (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.