Copper ore grades are diminishing worldwide as the higher grade reserves are exploited and pro-gressively depleted. Simultaneously, the global demand for copper is increasing continuously. Con-sequently, processing of future copper ores and concentrates will most likely involve the treatment of more complex, fine-grained minerals containing increased levels of impurity elements (e.g. Sb, As and Hg), which are detrimental to the smelting process as well as affecting the physical and me-chanical properties of the copper product. Unfortunately, the prevalence of antimony containing minerals among the copper-bearing ores will reduce their economic value, and therefore, need to be eliminated. However, it is beneficial if antimony can be removed at the early stage of the process as a saleable product instead of ending-up as a waste material in copper metallurgy. This article aims at pre-treating a tetrahedrite-rich copper concentrate by selective dissolution of antimony in alkaline sulphide media, thereby, upgrading the concentrate for smelting operation. Furthermore, the kinetic mechanisms of the leach process as well as the factors affecting it were investigated. The selectivity of the lixiviant towards antimony is also discussed. The results show that the extraction of antimony from the concentrate depends strongly on the concentration of sul-phide and hydroxide ions, reaction temperature, particle size and the leaching time. Kinetic data from the study indicates that tetrahedrite dissolution from the concentrate under selected conditions is chemically controlled through the particle surface reaction with an estimated activation energy of 81 kJ/mol. Analysis of the leach residue proves that the lixiviant is selective and effective to solubi-lize this impurity element from the concentrate with high recovery. The impurity content of the concentrate was found to have reduced to low levels acceptable for smelting operation, and there-fore, lessen the processing problems faced during pyrometallurgical treatment of such impure copper concentrate.