Biological treatment systems (i.e., bioremediation) for the detoxification of toxic and hazardous wastes from industrial sources has immense potential of becoming an effective alternative because of their several advantages over conventional methods. Investigations were aimed at screening a diverse range of low-cost biomass obtained from different sources for the removal and recovery of precious anionic metal species like gold- and silver-cyanide from aqueous wastes with the emphasis on the development of a laboratory/pilot-scale technology.