Explanation:
The extraction of silver involves cyanide process
(I) \(\mathrm{Ag}_{2} \mathrm{~S}+2 \mathrm{CN}^{-}+\mathrm{O}_{2} \longrightarrow\)
\({\mkern 1mu} \,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,2[{\rm{Ag}}({\rm{CN}})]_2^ - + {\rm{S}}{{\rm{O}}_2}\)
(II) \(2\left[\mathrm{Ag}(\mathrm{CN})_{2}\right]+\mathrm{Zn} \longrightarrow\)
\(\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,{\left[ {{\rm{Zn}}{{({\rm{CN}})}_4}} \right]^{2 - }} + 2{\rm{Ag}}\)
Thus, in (I) \(\mathrm{O}_{2}\)-act as oxidising agent (oxidise sulphide to \(\mathrm{SO}_{2}\) ) and in
(II) \(\mathrm{Zn}\) act as reducing agent (reduce \(\mathrm{Ag}^{+}\)to \(\mathrm{Ag}\) ).