The invention mainly belongs to the technical field of pyrogenic process-
hydrometallurgy and particularly relates to a method for selectively leaching 
scandium and 
sodium from bayer 
red mud. By the adoption of the method, the 
scandium, a rare and expensive metallic element, and 
sodium high in content can be leached from the 
red mud, and separation of the 
scandium and the iron element in the 
red mud can also be achieved. According to the method, based on the occurrence form of the scandium in the red mud, the bayer red mud is evenly mixed with concentrated 
sulfuric acid, after low-temperature sulphating is conducted, medium-temperature calcinating is conducted, and escaping 
sulfur trioxide and 
sulfur dioxide or 
sulfuric acid are recycled during sulphating and medium-temperature calcinating; and after 
sulfate impurities are decomposed, a washing liquor rich in the scandium and the 
sodium and low in 
iron content is obtained through water leaching. The washing liquor, prepared through the method, rich in the scandium and the sodium and low in 
iron content provides absolute advantages for the follow-up steps of 
ion exchange and 
solvent extraction and re-extraction; and after 
solid-liquid separation, the obtained leaching residues high in 
iron content and low in sodium content can be used as a 
building material or a 
raw material of 
blast furnace iron making. Besides, the 
sulfuric acid used as the 
reagent in the method can be recycled and reused, and therefore no new 
pollution is generated.