Modeling of emulsion liquid membrane pertraction of gold (III) ions from aqueous solutions using MIBK as carrier and LK-80 as emulsifier has been performed. Three models were considered: Advancing front model, diffusion controlled mass transfer inside and outside of globule model and finally, reaction and diffusion controlled mass transfer model. Results showed that the model considered as reaction and diffusion controlled mass transfer model is more compatible with experimental results and the compatibility of the model and the experimental results is more than 90%. This modeling showed that the pH of external phase is the most important parameter for the extraction. The deviation for "Advancing front model", "diffusion controlled mass transfer model" and "reaction and diffusion controlled mass transfer model" were 82.83, 65.69 and 9.38%, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.