Method for developing silver halide photographic light-sensitive material

A process for developing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material comprising processing, after exposure, a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material with a developer (i) having a pH of from 9.0 to 11.0 and (ii) containing:

• (1) from 0.2 to 0.75 mol/l of a dihydroxybenzene-base developing agent;
• (2) from 0.001 to 0.06 mol/l of a 1-phenyl-3-pyrazolidone-base or p-aminophenol-base auxiliary developing agent;
• (3) from 0.3 to 1.2 mol/l of free sulfite ions;
• and
• (4) a compound represented by the following formula (II):
• ##STR40## wherein Y and Z each represents N or CR.sub.2, wherein R.sub.2 represents an alkyl group or an aryl group;
• R.sub.1 represents an alkyl, aryl or heterocyclic group substituted by at least one selected from the group consisting of --SO.sub.3 M, --COOM, --OH, --NHSO.sub.2 R.sub.3, --SO.sub.2 NR.sub.3 R.sub.4 and --NR.sub.5 CONR.sub.3 R.sub.4, or a group comprising an alkyl, aryl or heterocyclic group bonded through a linking group;
• R.sub.3, R.sub.4 and R.sub.5 each represents a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms;
• and M represents a hydrogen atom, an alkali metal atom, a quaternary ammonium or a quaternary phosphonium;
• wherein the replenishing amount of the developer is 225 ml/m.sup.2 or less;
• and
• wherein said silver halide photographic light-sensitive material comprises a support having provided thereon at least one light-sensitive emulsion layer, wherein said emulsion layer or another hydrophilic colloid layer contains:
• (i) a hydrazine-base nucleating agent having, in the vicinity of the hydrazine group thereof, at least one of an anion group or a nonion group which forms an intramolecular hydrogen bond with the hydrogen atom of the hydrazine;
• or
• at least one hydrazine nucleating agent selected from the compounds represented by the following formula (I) ##STR41## wherein R.sub.0 represents a difluoromethyl group or a mono-fluoromethyl group;
• and A.sub.0 represents an aromatic group, provided that A.sub.0 contains, as a substituent, at least one of a non-diffusible group, an adsorption accelerating group to silver halide, an alkylthio group, an arylthio group, a heterocyclic thio group, a quaternary ammonium group, a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic group containing a quaternized nitrogen atom, an alkoxy group containing an ethyleneoxy or propyleneoxy unit, a saturated heterocyclic group having a sulfide bond or a disulfide bond, and a combination thereof;
• and
• (ii) a nucleating accelerator.