The leaching of szaibelyite ore in NaOH solution to prepare sodium metaborate dihydrate was investigated in a batch reactor. The effects of the reaction temperature, NaOH concentration and liquid to solid ratio on the leaching rate have been evaluated and the conversion of boron could reach 95% in 2 h under the optimum reaction conditions. There were two distinct stages in the leaching process and kinetics of both stages followed shrinking core model. The activation energy of stage one (initial 30 min) and stage two (30-120 min) was estimated to be 41.57 kJ/mol and 40.41 kJ/mol, respectively. The kinetics analysis showed that the leaching process was controlled by chemical reaction. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.