The invention provides a low-grade complex nickel-molybdenum ore cleaning pretreatment method. Nickel-molybdenum ores, a chlorinating agent and water are uniformly mixed at the specific proportions and then subjected to pelleting, material balls after being pelleted are directly placed in a volatilization furnace without being dried, and chlorination volatilization and smelting are conducted undera specific warming mechanism. Products such as molybdenum chloride, zinc chloride, arsenic chloride, nickel chloride, ammonium sulfide and ammonium sulfate in the smoke generated by volatilization are recycled respectively in a smoke collection device. The method can treat various kinds of low-grade and complex nickel-molybdenum ores, molybdenum, zinc, nickel and other valuable components in thenickel-molybdenum ores can be separated in a one-step mode, sulphur can be recycled in the forms of ammonium sulfide, ammonium sulfate and the like, and emission of low-concentration SO2 is avoided. Meanwhile, harmful components such as concomitant arsenic in the nickel-molybdenum ores can be deeply volatilized and removed, and the volatile residue obtained through volatilization is harmless to the environment. Compared with an existing nickel-molybdenum ore treatment method, the method has the advantages that the energy consumption is low, the efficiency is high, and the clean and environment-friendly effects are achieved.