•The leaching kinetics of zinc residue is leached augmented with ultrasound is presented.•The best zinc recovery ratio can is showed at this paper.•The kinetics research of ultrasound-assisted leaching is researched using shrinking core model.•The rate controlling step of ultrasound-assisted leaching is identified to be the diffusion through the product layer. The leaching kinetics of zinc residue, having total Zn content of 12.31%, along with other metallic components such as Fe and Pb, is leached using sulfuric acid as solvent, augmented with ultrasound is presented. The effects of variables such as the leaching temperature, sulfuric acid concentration, particle size, liquid/solid ratio and the ultrasound power have been assessed. The results show the maximum recovery of zinc to be 80% at an ultrasound power of 160W, leaching temperature of 65°C, sulfuric acid concentration of 1.4mol/L, particle size range of 74–89μm and liquid/solid ratio of 4. The kinetics of leaching is modeled using shrinking core model and the rate controlling step is identified to be the diffusion through the product layer. The raw and the leached residue are characterized using XRD and SEM/EDX analysis. The activation energy is estimated to be 6.57KJ/mol, while the order of reaction with respect to sulfuric acid concentration is 0.94 and particle size is 0.12 respectively.