Activated carbon
Advancements in the 1970s have seen activated carbon used in extracting gold from the leach solution. The gold is absorbed into the porous matrix of the carbon. Activated carbon has so much internal surface area, that fifteen grams of it has the equivalent surface area of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (). The gold can be removed from the carbon by using a strong solution of caustic soda and cyanide, a process known as elution. Gold is then plated out onto steel wool through electrowinning. Gold specific resins can also be used in place of activated carbon, or where selective separation of gold from copper or other dissolved metals is required.