A new phenol-formaldehyde based chelating resin containing 4-(2-thiazolylazo) resorcinol (TAR) functional groups has been synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Its adsorption behavior for Cu(II), Pb(II), Ni(II), Co(II), Cd(II), and Mn(II) has been investigated by batch and column experiments. The chelating resin is highly selective for Cu(II) in the pH range 2 similar to 3, whereas alkali metal and alkaline earth metal ions such as Na(I), Mg(II), and Ca(II) are not adsorbed even at pH 6. Quantitative recovery of most metal ions studied in this work except Co(II) is achieved by elution with 2 M HNO3 at a flow rate of 0.2 mL min(-1). A similar trend is observed for distribution coefficient values. The quantitative separations achieved on a mini-column of chelating resin include Cd(II) - Cu(II), Mn(II) - Pb(II), Co(II) - Cu(II), Mn(II) - Ni(II), and Mn(II) - Co(II) - Cu(II). The recovery of copper(II) is quantitative (98.0-99.0%) from test solutions (10-50 mg/L) by 1 mol/L HNO3-0.01 mol/L EDTA. The chelating resin is stable in acidic solutions below 2.5 M HNO3 or HCl as well as in alkaline solution below pH 11. The adsorption behavior of the resin towards Cu(II) was found to follow Langmuir isotherm and second order rate.