The saponite-containing product from the stage of process water clearing at benefication plant of the PAO Severalmaz was thickenedusing the electrochemical separation for use as sorbent of nickel and copper ions. The product features a high sorption capacityrelatively the nickel and copper ions. It has been established that the sorption capacity can be enhanced by roasting the product at750°С to 194 and 212 mg/g for the nickel and copper ions respectively.An organomineral sorbent for nickel ions based on copper-nickel ore tailings of the JSC „The Kolskaya Mining and MetallurgicalCompany”, thermally activated at 700ºС, has been synthesized. The surface modification was performed by using the non-covalentimmobilization of dimethylglyoxime.