A mechanical panning technique for separation of fine-grained gold and other heavy minerals

English, B.L.; Desborough, George A.; Raymond, William H.

doi:10.3133/ofr87364

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

(1 reference statement)

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“…These were then subjected to gravity separation using a Wilfley wet shaking table [22,[54][55][56][57] housed at the MPTRC, Gauteng, South Africa. Gravity concentration was carried out in duplicate.…”

Section: Gravity Separationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

et al. 2020

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A process mineralogical study based on three texturally and mineralogically different chromite-bearing ore types at the Nkomati nickel mine was undertaken, with focus on chromite. Chromite is a by-product of the Ni-Cu-Co-PGE ore at Nkomati Nickel mine. These being the PCMZ_MG (medium-grade Ni-Cu sulphide silicate ore with disseminated chromite), PCMZ_HG (high-grade Ni-Cu sulphide silicate ore containing disseminated chromite) and MCHR (massive chromite unit) ore types. These were processed using benchtop flotation followed by gravity concentration using a shaking table at different grind sizes. Quantitative mineralogical data was obtained using a 600F Mineral Liberation Analyser for the unprocessed and processed ores at three selected target grinds. The Mineral Liberation Analyser data indicated that increased milling does not relate to increased chromite grades and recoveries, particularly for the disseminated PCMZ type ores based on laboratory-scale gravity concentration. The recovery is controlled largely by the chromite chemistry. The results also showed that the MCHR samples that underwent a pre-flotation stage before gravity separation had better Cr2O3 grades (45% to 47%) and recoveries (52% to 61%) than MCHR ore that did not undergo a pre-flotation stage, which recorded grades ranging from 44% to 46% and recoveries ranging from 43% to 60%. This holds promise for the blending of MCHR ores with the PCMZ ores. The PCMZ ores also displayed better Cr2O3 grades and recoveries at coarser grinds. The optimal target grind to process all three ore types is a P80 of 75 μm, which is the current grind size employed at Nkomati Nickel mine. Due to the low nickel price and grade the Nkomati Nickel mine is currently under care and maintenance.

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Section: Gravity Separationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

et al. 2020

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“…In 1987, B.L. English and others at the U.S. Geological Survey experimented with the Wilfley Table to recover fine-grained and flour gold from Snake River sediments (English, 1987). The experiment confirmed the recovery efficiency of the water table and suggested that in conjunction with heavy liquids and the Frantz Magnetic Separator (both described in later sections of this report), the Table could be used to concentrate other heavy minerals including pyrite, galena, ilmenite, and zircon.…”

Section: Sieve Stack Adjustment Nutmentioning

confidence: 99%

A process for reducing rocks and concentrating heavy minerals

Strong¹,

Driscoll²

2016

Open-File Report

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To obtain minerals suitable for age-dating and other analyses, it is necessary to first reduce the mineral-bearing rock to a fine, sand-like consistency. Reducing whole rock requires crushing, grinding, and sieving. Ideally, the reduced material should range in size from 80-to 270-mesh (an opening between wires in a sieve). The openings in an 80-mesh sieve are equal to 0.007 inches, 0.177 millimeters, or 177 micrometers. This size range ensures that compound grains are mostly disaggregated and that grains, in general, are dimensionally similar. This range also improves the segregation rate of conspicuous to extremely small individual heavy mineral grains. Once the rock is reduced to grains, it is necessary to separate the grains into paramagnetic and nonparamagnetic and heavy and light mineral fractions. In separating grains by property, those minerals chemically suited for radiometric dating are abundantly concentrated. Grams of mineralogical material can then be analyzed and characterized by multiple methods including trace element chemistry, laser ablation, and in particular, ion geochronology.

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“…Therefore, eighteen bulk samples weighed 0.5 kg for each are used to recovery gold by a simple mechanical panning technique using a full size Wilfley shaking table at Coastal Research Institute, Alexandria, Egypt. This technique has been described by Taggart (1956), Antweiler and Love (1967) and English et al (1987) to obtain high purity of native gold, silver, mercury, amalgam, sulfide minerals and zircon. The minimum recovery of gold particles is 95% using the mechanical Wilfley table panning technique (English et al, 1987).…”

Section: Laboratory Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This technique has been described by Taggart (1956), Antweiler and Love (1967) and English et al (1987) to obtain high purity of native gold, silver, mercury, amalgam, sulfide minerals and zircon. The minimum recovery of gold particles is 95% using the mechanical Wilfley table panning technique (English et al, 1987).…”

Section: Laboratory Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineralogy and Radioactivity of Wadi Hangaliya Stream Sediments, South Eastern Desert of Egypt

Mansour¹,

Diab²,

Sherif³

2016

Nuclear Sciences Scientific Journal

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The present paper sheds some light on the mineralogy and radioactivity of stream sediments in Wadi Hangaliya, South Eastern Desert of Egypt. Therefore, eighteen stream sediments have been examined. The wadi is surrounded by several rock units; metavolcanics, mafic-ultramafic rocks and younger granites. The grain size analyses reveal that stream sediments are immature, about 33% and 28% of the sediments lie in the very coarse sand and coarse sand fractions, respectively. About 72% of the sediments are poorly sorted. It attains average heavy 5.82 and 2.33 %for both fine and very fine sand size fractions, respectively. The recorded heavy minerals include opaques with an average content of 13.3% and 14.6% in the fine and very fine sand fractions, respectively. The opaques are dominated by magnetite, ilmenite and hematite. The non-opaques include zircon, rutile, staurolite, sillimanite, titanite, amphiboles, pyroxenes, epidotes, apatite, garnet, barite and tourmaline. The preliminary estimation of visible gold content in sand fraction giving an average of 1.135 g/t Au. Gold was recorded in 72% of the studied samples. Ground spectroscopic measurements and aero-radiometric previous work of the hinterlands show weak radioactivity; increasing slightly to the west portion of Wadi Hangaliya. The increase in radioactivity may be attributed to Gabal Nugrus younger granite. The radioactive minerals include; monazite, metamict zircon and thorite. In addition, the presence of 40 K in the potash feldspars and micas of the light fraction. Thus, the weak radioactivity of Wadi Hangaliya makes it suitable for gold extraction field industry.

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A mechanical panning technique for separation of fine-grained gold and other heavy minerals

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

A process for reducing rocks and concentrating heavy minerals

Mineralogy and Radioactivity of Wadi Hangaliya Stream Sediments, South Eastern Desert of Egypt

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