A method for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from nickel and cobalt containing laterite ores, said method comprising: a) roasting feed ore in a reducing atmosphere in a rotary kiln to selectively reduce the nickel and cobalt, wherein either no, or less than 2.5% w/w reductant is added to the feed ore prior to roasting; b) leaching the reduced ore with an aerated ammoniacal ammonium carbonate solution to extract the nickel and cobalt into a leach solution; and c) separating the leach solution from the ore tailings and recovering the nickel and cobalt by a process selected from ammoniacal solvent extraction, precipitation techniques or ion exchange.