With the objective of developing a foundation for a Sulfur-Producing Flue Gas Desulfurization (SP-FGD) process, a systematic study of the oil-sands fluid coke-SO2 (g) system was performed. Experimental work and thermodynamic analysis demonstrated that SO2 is readily converted into elemental sulfur with high yield (>90%) when C is the limiting reagent, according to the overall reaction C + SO2 = S + CO2 . Complete SO 2 conversion can also be achieved at C/SO2 ratios >1 or with a long gas-coke contact time, but elemental sulfur yield decreases due to the formation of COS and CS2 . The contact time required to reach complete conversion is strongly affected by temperature, falling from 8 seconds at 700°C to 1 second at 1000°C. Complete removal of SO2 was achieved for gas streams containing 2 to 30% of SO2 . The Shrinking Core Model (SCM) analysis of the kinetic data established that both chemical reaction and ash layer diffusion controlled the system. The effective diffusivity (De ) of the SO2 at various temperatures and the activation energy (Ea) were determined, and their values are in agreement with the ones reported for similar systems. Results from Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis corroborated the formation of an ash layer and revealed the build-up of sulfur at the interface. Results of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analyses suggest the formation of C-S complexes on the surface of the coke particles during carbothermal reduction of SO 2 .