HAND PANNING

Princess B. Mediodia
METE 128: MINERAL PROCESSING LABORATORY
ABSTRACT
Panning, the cheapest and simplest gravity concentration method, is used in concentrating a
copper ore sample. Thru employment of proper panning technique by pan rotation and water addition,
tailings are floated outside of pan, allowing the concentrate to settle in the pan. Gravity separation is one
of the oldest technique in mineral processing but has seen a decline in its use since the introduction of
methods like flotation, classification, magnetic separation and leaching. Gravity separation dates back to
at least 3000 BC when Egyptians used the technique for separation of gold.

INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS

Gravity concentration, despite the Materials:
introduction of other methods still remains the
most widely used process for the beneficiation Mineral sample
of minerals. As a matter of fact, its modern 70 mesh sieve
forms such as Dense Medium Separation,
mineral jigs, spirals, and etc. is being used for Basin
the treatment of iron, tin and tungsten ores, coal,
industrial minerals, and of precious metals Weighing balance
mined today (Wills, 2006)
Pycnometer
Gravity processes primarily take Distilled water
advantage of a difference in the specific gravity
of the minerals to be separated. Other factors, Methods:
such as size, weight, and shape are also of
importance in determining the relative The sample was sieved by 70 mesh. The
movement of the mineral in the fluid media, not undersize was weighed and used as the sample
only in absolute terms, but relative to all other for hand panning. The sample was placed into
minerals (Burt, 1987). the basin and little water was added and was
mixed thoroughly. Water was added just enough
to dilute the sample. The pan was rotated
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY clockwise and the unwanted minerals starts to
This experiment aims to familiarize with float and the water was poured and collected into
the use hand panning method in the separation another container. The water was added to the
of valuable mineral from gangue material. sample and the steps was repeated until the
water started to clear. At this stage, water was
added to the sample and panned slowly to let the
concentrate flow to the side. The concentrate
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
was collected in an aluminum pan and started to
A better understanding on the basic dry.
concepts of panning is an essential element for
the future development of improved gravity The specific gravity was determined by
concentration processes. using pycnometer. An empty pycnometer was

Hand Panning. Submitted to Engr. Myra V. Cabatingan, Instructor.

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weighed. The water was filled up to the brim and (concentrate)
covered. It was weighed as mass of pycnometer Wt. of waste (tails) 112.317g
with distilled water. Half of the water from the The mechanism of mineral separation is through
pycnometer was taken out. Approximately one the agitation of the particles through pan rotation
gram was poured into the pycnometer and mixed along with the continuous addition of water. This
thoroughly for 1 minute. The pycnometer was causes the light particles (tailings) to float and
filled with water up to the brim, covered and flow outside the pan while letting the heavy
weighed as the pycnometer with water and particles to settle at the bottom.
sample.The specific gravity was calculated by
However, there are middlings in the ore
the formula below:
which may flow out of the water with the light
Wo particles, or may settle on the bottom like high
SpecificGravity =
Wo+(WaWb ) (eqn 1) gravity particles. Further grinding can decrease
the amount of middlings, leading to a more
efficient concentration.
Where Wo is the mass of sample, Wa is the mass
of pycnometer with water and Wb is the mass of The ore sample was sieved by a 70 mesh
pycnometer with water and sample. sieve. Undersized sample has a mass of 210.827
grams. the undersized sample was used as feed
for hand panning. Concentrate has a mass of
98.51g. since feed is equal to concentrate and
tails, the value for tails was calculated below:
Seiving weighing
F=C+T
Where F is the feed, C is the concentrate and T
is the tails.
panning drying T=FC
= 210.827g 98.51g
= 112.317g
determinatio
data The mass of tails is equal to 112.317g
n of specific
gathering
gravity
For the percent recovery of the percent
recovery for the concentrate in hand panning
was calculated below:

analysis C
R= x 100
F

98.51
R= x 100
210.827
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Table 1. Data for hand panning R=46.73

Wt. of ore sample 502.176g The specific gravity was calculated using the
Wt. undersize 70 mesh sample (feed) 210.827g equation 1:
Wt. after panning and drying 98.51g
Hand Panning. Submitted to Engr. Myra V. Cabatingan, Instructor.
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 Wo density minerals, but separation efficiency is
SpecificGravity = lower due to a lot of factors mainly involving the
Wo+(WaWb )
skill of the performer. The deviation of the
specific gravity of the concentrate from the
1.050 g sample can also be accounted by the presence of
= 1.050 g+(48.52149.313) middlings, thus further grinding is
recommended.

Specific Gravity = 4.07 REFERENCES:

The specific gravity of the concentrate sample

was 4.07. Burt, R. 1987. Gravity Concentration
CONCLUSIONS Methods. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,
Dordrecht.
In the hand panning experiment, theres
a great percent recovery of the concentrate from Carpenter, R. 1949. Gravity
the feed. Although it has a great recovery,
panning is focusing more on the particle that is Concentration A Fundamental Study.
denser in which the particle will sink. While the University of Idaho:Idaho.
less dense particle will mix or float to the water
which serves as a reject sample or tails. Turner, J. 1991. Gravity Concentration,
Therefore, denser impurities are still present in Past, Present, and Future. Minerals
the concentrate in hand panning. Hand panning Engineering, Vol. 4.
provides a cheaper, yet less efficient method in
gravity separation and is suitable for separating
minerals with large density differences. The Wills, B. et. al. 2006. Gravity
specific gravity for the concentrate is 4.07.
Concentration. Wills Mineral
The pan rotation and water addition
allows the separation of light minerals from high Processing Technology. Elsevier Science
and Technology Books

Hand Panning. Submitted to Engr. Myra V. Cabatingan, Instructor.

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