In this study, tetrachloroaurate as an electron acceptor of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been studied to discover the parameters that affect the cost-effective recovery of gold. The modeling and equations for calculating the maximum actual efficiency and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic internal resistance of the MFC were also developed. The maximum power density (P-max) of 6.58 W/m(2) with a fill factor of 0.717 was achieved for 60 mL volumes of 2000 ppm Au(III) catholyte and 12.2 mM acetate anolyte, respectively. The P-max can also be predicted simply by measuring R-int by EIS. Additionally, the maximum actual MFC efficiency of about 57% was achieved, and the recovery efficiency of Au and the remaining concentration reached 99.89 +/- 0.00% and 0.22 +/- 0.00 ppm, respectively, for an Au(III) concentration of 200 ppm. The anodic concentration polarization quenching of the MFC strongly supports a mediator mechanism for the electron transfer from the microorganism to the anode. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.