The paper presents the results of a study on the destruction of copper complexed cyanides and the simultaneous recovery of copper in a lab-scale batch electrochemical reactor. The performance of the reactor equipped with a stainless steel (SS) plate anode is compared with the data relative to the process conducted with a Ti/Pt anode having the same overall size. Both reactors operated at various initial pH values under galvanostatic conditions. Under highly alkaline conditions in situ generation of a CuO catalyst on the anode surface was observed in both the reactors. The observed mass transport coefficient, showing both the effects of reaction kinetics and mass transfer, was a function of pH value and, only secondly, of the anode material. The highest value of ( k l A) obs, equal to 0.24033 cm 3s −1 was obtained for a Ti/Pt anode reactor operating at the pH of 13. Under these very alkaline conditions the performance of the reactor equipped with the Ti/Pt anode at high initial Cu concentration proved slightly better than the performance with the SS anode. The energy consumption for the pH 13 was a function E= a/[Cu]+ b, where a and b are the constants characteristic for each of the two reactors.