The technology of obtaining active carbon from anthracite mined in Siberia is described. The effect of the activating agent, anthracite/activator ratio and activation temperature has been tested. The activation either with KOH or NaOH has been found to lead to microporous active carbon samples of well-developed surface area reaching from 588 to 2260 m(2)/g and pore volume from 0.29 to 1.12 m(3)/g. The structural properties of the active carbons obtained have been found to depend first of all on the anthracite/activating agent ratio, on the kind of activating agent and finally on the temperature of activation. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.