Abstract: The invention concerns the concentration or recovery of gold or silver from cyanide liquors containing either or both of them by contacting the liquors with activated carbon in order to load it with Au(CN).sub.2.sup.- or Ag(CN).sub.2.sup.- according to the particular isotherm, removing the loaded carbon and treating it with hydronium or metal cations or molecular complexes in order to convert the Au(CN).sub.2.sup.- and Ag(CN).sub.2.sup.- to insoluble AuCN or AgCN and then recycling the thus treated carbon to contact further liquor, whereby the loading of the activated carbon is far in excess of that possible by conventional reversible loading and recovery of such precious metals by converting them to reversibly loaded AuCN and AgCN which desorb down to their limits set by their respective equilibrium adsorption isotherms.