During the hydrometallurgical extraction of zinc by electrowinning process, a hazardous solid waste called anode mud is generated. It contains large quantity of manganese oxides (55-80%) and lead dioxide (6-16%). Due to the presence of a large quantity of lead, the anode mud waste is considered hazardous and has to be disposed of in secure landfills, which is costly, wastes available manganese and valuable land resources. For recovery of manganese content of anode mud, a process comprising of carbothermal treatment using low density oil (LDO) followed by sulphuric acid leaching is developed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.