Activated carbon plays a crucial role in the recovery of gold from ore through a process known as carbon-in-pulp (CIP) or carbon-in-leach (CIL) extraction. These methods involve using activated carbon to adsorb and recover gold from the cyanide leach solution, allowing for efficient gold extraction and purification.

In the CIP/CIL process, crushed and ground ore is mixed with a cyanide solution to dissolve gold from the ore particles. This creates a gold-bearing cyanide solution.

The gold-cyanide solution is then passed through tanks filled with activated carbon. The activated carbon has a high affinity for gold and adsorbs the gold cyanide complex onto its surface through a process known as adsorption.

In the CIP process, the gold-loaded activated carbon is suspended in the cyanide solution and agitated to ensure proper contact between the carbon and solution. The gold is desorbed from the carbon by a process called elution, resulting in a concentrated gold solution.

In the CIL process, the gold-loaded activated carbon is added to the leaching tanks, where it is mixed with the cyanide solution. The gold adsorbed on the carbon is then stripped off using elution, similar to the CIP process.

After the gold is desorbed from the activated carbon, it is typically recovered by electro-winning, where an electric current is passed through the gold-bearing solution, causing the gold to plate out onto electrodes.

After the gold is desorbed from the activated carbon, it is typically recovered by electro-winning, where an electric current is passed through the gold-bearing solution, causing the gold to plate out onto electrodes.