The tetraiodoaurate(III) complex forms with the tetrabutylammonium cation the [(C4H9)4N][AuI4] ion-pair which may be extracted with chloroform. The present work studies the variables affecting the extraction efficiency, which in optimal conditions is greater than 99.8%. The absorption spectrum of the organic extract shows two maxima at 292 and 360 nm. Beer's law is followed for gold concentrations of the order of 10−5M. A procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of gold after extracting the [(C4H9)4N][AuI4] ion-pair by chloroform is proposed. Iron(III), Cu(II), Tl(III), Bi(III), Pd(II) and Pt(IV) interfere.