The low-grade (< 15% P2O5) carbonate-substituted rock phosphate (francolite) of Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh (India), was investigated as an adsorbent for its possible application in the removal of aqueous lead and zinc from static systems. The effects of temperature on the sorption of lead and zinc ions and the applicability of the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models in each case of lead and zinc adsorption were studied separately at different temperatures. The sorption of the heavy metal ions was found to follow the order Pb2+ > Zn2+. Francolite was found to be most effective in removing Pb2+, with a lead removal of 82-99.9% and a maximum LRC (lead removal capacity) of 0.018 (g of Pb)/(g of francolite). The adsorption process was found to be exothermic, and the Langmuir adsorption model was found to represent the adsorption data at different temperatures more suitably.