Liquid membranes incorporating thioctic acid as a carrier to mimic an active transport system for alkaline earth metals has been described. A transport cell, operating on the same principle as the Schulman Bridge was used. It has been demonstrated that such a system is capable of transporting alkaline earth metals against a proton gradient, as driving force. The potential of thioctic acid to complex and transport these metal ions particularly Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and Ba²⁺ was verified. Furthermore, this transport phenomenon was extended to some different barium salts (Cl^-, Br^-, NO₃^-, and SCN^-) to determine the effect of nature of anion on the transport of the Ba²⁺ ions. The order of the transport rate was found to be Ba²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ which is inconsistent with the stability of coordination to the carboxyl group. The rate of transport of Ba²⁺ ions were found to decrease with the anion type in the order SCN^- > Br^- > NO₃^- > Cl^- which is related to the extent of hydration of the anions.