A magnetic chelating resin was obtained through copolymerization of bisthiourea/thiourea/glutaraldehyde in the presence of magnetite (Fe3O4)The resin obtained was investigated by IR, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectra. The sorption behaviour of the resin towards Hg(II) in aqueous solutions was studied. The maximum uptake capacity was found to be 4.4 mmol/g at 27 degrees C and dramatically increased at elevated temperature to reach 18 mmol/g at 80 degrees C. Similar uptake value was also obtained by soaking the resin in Hg(II) solution for 1 week at room temperature. The sorption process is endothermic and follows the pseudo- first-order kinetics. Some features about the column of the resin towards the removal of Hg(II) were also defined. The critical bed height was found to be 0.06 cm. The investigated resin was found to be able to remove 13 metal ions from wastewater matrix with efficiency of 91 %. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.