Activated Carbon Supplier South Africa

What Is Activated Carbon?

Activated carbon (activated charcoal) is a highly porous carbon material produced by thermal or chemical activation of carbon-rich precursors (coal, coconut shell, wood, or peat) to develop a vast internal surface area — typically 500–1500 m²/g. This large surface area provides exceptional adsorption capacity for a wide range of organic and inorganic species from both liquid and gas phases. In gold mining, activated carbon is the critical recovery medium in carbon-in-pulp (CIP), carbon-in-leach (CIL), and carbon-in-columns (CIC) gold recovery circuits, where the gold-cyanide complex [Au(CN)₂⁻] is selectively adsorbed from the alkaline leach solution onto the carbon surface.

CIP and CIL Gold Recovery

In a CIP circuit, leached slurry flows through a series of agitated tanks containing activated carbon. The dissolved gold-cyanide complex is adsorbed onto carbon as the pulp flows counter-currently against the carbon, concentrating gold on the carbon. The loaded carbon is then stripped (eluted) at high temperature to recover gold into a concentrated eluate, which is electroplated to produce gold sponge (smelt gold). The stripped carbon is thermally regenerated in a rotary kiln and recycled. Key parameters for CIP/CIL carbon selection are high iodine number (adsorption capacity), high hardness (abrasion resistance in the circuit), and low ash content (minimal ash contribution to elution chemistry).

Water Treatment and Industrial Applications

Activated carbon is widely used in water treatment to remove chlorine, chloramines, taste, odour, organic micropollutants, and trace pharmaceuticals from potable water and industrial process water. In air purification and gas treatment it removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs), solvents, and odorous gases. In chemical processing it decolourises solutions, removes catalysts, and purifies pharmaceutical intermediates. Terracore Chemicals supplies coal-based and coconut shell-based activated carbon in CIP/CIL mining grade and water treatment grade across Southern Africa.