Abstract: The present invention is drawn to polyamide ligand-containing polymeric resins and methods of using the same for removing, separating, and/or concentrating certain desired metal ions from solutions, even when the desired ions are in the presence of other metal ions and/or hydrogen ions at much higher concentrations. The unique composition of matter of this invention is a polyamide ligand-containing polymeric resin which is a reaction product of a hydroxymethylated polyamide ligand and a polymerization and/or crosslinking agent. Specifically, the polymeric resins of the present invention are comprised of from 10 to 50,000 polyamide ligand units wherein each polyamide ligand unit contains at least three amide groups (preferably from three to eight amide groups) and two amine groups separated by at least two carbons. Each amide group, after polymerization, may remain hydroxymethylated or be crosslinked to other polyamide ligand units through a crosslinking agent.