Bagasse, the fibrous residue from sugar cane milling operation, was subjected to physical activation using CO(2) to establish its suitability as a precursor for gold adsorption, specifically for the recovery of gold from cyanide medium. Mathematical modelling, which correlates the effects of carbon properties on the adsorption behaviour, was conducted to formulate a basis for tailor making the adsorbent for this particular application. The developed model suggests carbon properties of alkali pH, high total surface area and small pore diameters are required for optimum adsorption capacity. The optimum adsorption capacity attained by the developed carbon in this study was 227% that of the test commercial activated carbon, which exhibited an adsorption of 101mg Au/g carbon. Hence this demonstrates bagasse as a promising precursor for the manufacture of activated carbon for gold cyanide adsorption. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.