The extraction of silver(I) and mercury(II) from nitric acid solutions by dihexylsulfide (DHS, R2S)in benzene has been examined under different conditions. It is found that silver is extracted into organic phase according to the following reactions: at low acidity AgN03(a) + 2R2S(o) 2(R2S)2AgN03(o)and at higheT acidity AgN03(a) + HN03(a) + 2R2S(o) 2(R2S)2AgN03-HN03(o), in which (a) and (o) represent the aqueous and organic phases, respectively. In addition the stoichiometric species, R2S-AgN03and R2S-AgN03-HNO3, are formed when silver loading increases in the organic phase. The similar results are also obtained in the extraction of mercury, although the extraction efficiency of mercury is higher than that of silver.