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The direct preparation of LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O 2 (LNCM811) cathode materials from the hydrochloric acid leaching of laterite are promising; however, there are Cl− ions and other impurities in the hydrochloric acid leaching solution, thereby limiting the commercial application of LNCM811. In this study, we compared the LNCM811 prepared from Cl−- and SO 4 2−- ion precursor solutions, and observed that the existence of Cl− ions could result in agglomerate disjointed and the primary particles grew separately during the sintering process, further deteriorating the electrochemical performance. Therefore, the initial raw Ni/Co solid residues were washed with deionised water and leached with 25 wt% H 2 SO 4 solution to obtain an enriched Ni/Co solution with SO 4 2− anions. Furthermore, considerable impurities in the enriched Ni/Co solution caused primary particle separation during the sintering process and led to the LNCM811 having poor electrochemical properties. Therefore, it was further purified by extraction with Cyanex272 to obtain a pure NiSO 4 solution. The impurities in the NCM811 precursor prepared from this pure NiSO 4 solution were below standard limits, the corresponding lithiated cathode delivers an initial reversible capacity of 192.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1C with an initial Coulombic efficiency of 86.5%; it retains 85.1% of its capacity after 100 cycles at 1.0C in 2.8–4.3 V, thereby achieving the standard of commercial LNCM811. On this basis, combined with the previous research of our group, high-value utilisation of laterite for preparing cathode materials includes the following processes: hydrochloric acid leaching, preliminary purification, alkaline oxidation precipitation, conversion of the Cl− solution system to the SO 4 2− ion solution system, extraction, solution-phase synthesis, and calcination. Moreover, compared with the conventional process of preparing NCM811 from metal sulfates, the cost saving through the proposed process was found to be approximately 265.8 $/ton. • Cl− ions result in disjointed agglomeration of LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O 2. • Mg could lead to poor particle morphology and layered structure. • Extracting impurities via Cyanex272 shortened the production of pure NiSO 4 solution. • LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O 2 was synthesised from hydrochloric acid leaching of laterite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]