The core parameters that customers care about most
| Parameters | Industry standards | Impact on production | Test methods |
| Gold loading | ≥300 g Au/ton of carbon | Determine carbon usage and replacement frequency | Fire assay (ISO 15249) |
| Adsorption rate | ＞95% (within 1 hour) | Affects the number of leaching tanks and residence time | Dynamic column adsorption test |
| Desorption rate | ≥99.9% (high temperature and high pressure method) | Correlate gold recovery efficiency and carbon regeneration cost | Sodium cyanide/sodium hydroxide elution |
| Abrasion resistance | ≥95% | Reduce the loss of fine carbon powder (annual loss <5%) | ASTM D3802 drum method |
| Particle size | 6-16 mesh (1.2-3.3mm) | Balance adsorption speed and fluid resistance | ASTM E11 screening |
| Ash content | ≤3% | Avoid impurities blocking carbon pores | GB/T 7702.15-2008 |
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Three golden rules for selecting activated carbon Material priority: Coconut shell charcoal: well-developed micropores (pore size 1-2nm), gold loading 350g/ton (high-grade ore recommended) Apricot shell charcoal: high strength, wear resistance 15% better than coconut shell (suitable for high-wear CIP process) Aperture adaptation: Gold cyanide complex diameter 0.5nm → Choose carbon with micropore ratio > 70% Regeneration economy: High-quality carbon can be thermally regenerated 5 times (gold retention rate > 90%), and the cost per ton of carbon is reduced by 40% III. Actual cases – data speaks Case 1: CIP process upgrade of a gold mine in South Africa Pain points: gold loading is only 180g/ton, desorption rate is 92%, and tailings gold loss is 0.8g/ton The solutions we provide to customers: Replace high microporous coconut shell carbon (gold loading 320g/ton, strength 98%) Optimize desorption process (130℃/0.5MPa, NaOH+sodium cyanide) Results: Gold recovery rate from 86%→94.5% Year Increased gold production by 1.2 tons and increased revenue by $72 million Case 2: Cost reduction and efficiency improvement at Australian heap leaching sites Challenges: Low-grade ore (1.2g/ton), high consumption of activated carbon Innovative solutions we provide: Use apricot shell charcoal (strength 99%, unit price 30% lower than coconut shell) Mobile desorption electrolysis vehicle (on-site regeneration, transportation cost reduced by 60%) Benefits: Treatment cost per ton of ore from $18→$12 Charcoal loss rate from 8%→3.5% IV. Pit avoidance guide – industry lessons learned False gold loading trap: Part of the charcoal adsorbs copper/zinc ions (falsely high gold loading), and a selective adsorption report (gold vs base metals) is required Fine charcoal powder disaster: Charcoal with strength <90% produces powdered charcoal → clogging the screen + gold loss (annual gold loss of 35kg in a mine) Incomplete desorption: Residual gold >200g/ton? Check the purity of the desorbent (NaOH needs to be ≥99%) and temperature control (error ±2℃)
