Method for producing cobalt metal powder

A process for producing fine particle size cobalt metal powder from scrap material comprising cobalt and copper or silver, said process comprising digesting said scrap material in aqueous hydrochloric acid to produce an aqueous acid cobalt chloride solution containing copper ions or silver ions, contacting said aqueous acid cobalt chloride solution at a pH of from about 2 to about 4 with a sufficient amount of iron metal to result in the cementation of said copper ions or silver ions with said iron to form an insoluble mixture comprising iron and copper or silver and a resulting aqueous acid cobalt chloride solution, complexing cobalt present in said aqueous cobalt chloride solution with ammonia to form a cobalt ammine chloride solution, forming a cobalt containing precipitate, and reducing said cobalt containing precipitate to form a cobalt metal powder.