Chemical activation of sugarcane bagasse was carried out to produce adsorbents for gold recovery from aqueous solutions. The impregnation ratio with the activating agents (H3PO4 and ZnCl2) and the temperature of activation were of the most determining factors on the adsorbents' properties. Under the optimal production conditions, H3PO4 and ZnCl2 led to the adsorbents with the surface areas of 970 and 1300 m(2)/g, and the maximum monolayer gold adsorption capacities of 324 and 291 mg Au/g adsorbent, respectively. The recovery of gold from the bagasse-based adsorbents was performed by the incineration method efficiently. Considering the low cost and availability of bagasse as the primary material, the method was economically affordable.