Is the Wet Pan Mill Still a Cost-Effective Solution for Your Small to Medium Gold Processing Plant?

Gold Ore Wet Pan Mill Classifier Equipment

Wet Pan Mill: A Classic Grinding Equipment in Gold Ore Processing

Throughout the long history of gold ore processing, the wet pan mill has consistently held a unique and important position as an economical and efficient grinding equipment. While not the most cutting-edge technology, its simple structure, low investment cost, and stable operation make it an irreplaceable choice for small and medium-sized gold mines, especially in alluvial gold, lode gold, and tailings reprocessing projects. As a mining equipment manufacturer with 20 years of experience, we will provide an in-depth analysis of this classic equipment.

Overview and Working Principle of the Wet Pan Mill

What is a Wet Pan Mill?

A wet pan mill, also known as a gold ore mill or gold grinding machine, is a disc-type wet grinding equipment. It mainly consists of an electric motor, a reducer, transmission gears, grinding rollers, and a grinding pan. During operation, the enormous pressure and relative sliding between the rollers and the grinding pan crush, grind, and pulverize the ore. It is usually combined with mercury plates or cyanide processes to liberate and recover free gold from the ore.

Gold grinding machine structural diagram

Core Working Process

1. Feeding: Ore crushed to a certain particle size is mixed with water to form a slurry, which is continuously fed into the center of the rotating grinding pan.

2. Grinding and Crushing: Two heavy grinding rollers rotate under the action of friction, simultaneously applying enormous linear pressure to the ore material, crushing and grinding it into fine particles.

3. Classification and Discharge: The finely ground slurry moves towards the edge of the pan under centrifugal force. Qualified fine particles overflow the pan and enter the next separation process (such as shaking tables, amalgamation, or direct cyanidation). Coarse particles remain in the pan for further grinding.

Core Advantages of the Wet Pan Mill

Why has the wet pan mill remained widely used for centuries? This stems from its unparalleled advantages:

• Low Investment and Operating Costs: Simple structure, easy to manufacture and maintain, and relatively low energy consumption, making it particularly suitable for small and medium-sized mines with limited capital. • High recovery rate, especially for free gold: The unique grinding action effectively separates the gangue from the gold, allowing for complete liberation of free gold, which is beneficial for subsequent amalgamation or direct cyanidation, ensuring a high gold recovery rate.

• Simple operation and stable performance:  Requires minimal technical expertise from operators, the equipment is robust and durable, with a low failure rate, making it suitable for use in relatively harsh mining environments.

• Strong adaptability: Can be used independently as a grinding and amalgamation device, or integrated into a production line with ball mills, centrifugal concentrators, etc., to process various types of gold ore.

Gold grinding machine customer site

Application Case: Successfully Improving Tailings Recovery Rate

We successfully applied the wet disc mill in a tailings reprocessing project in West Africa. The tailings contained fine gold particles that were not effectively recovered by the earlier process. We designed a process flow centered around the wet disc mill, combined with shaking tables and centrifugal concentrators.

• Challenge: Fine gold particles were encapsulated, and single-particle liberation was insufficient, resulting in low efficiency of traditional gravity separation.

• Solution: Using a wet disc mill to re-grind the tailings, fully liberating the gold from the gangue, followed by gravity separation for enrichment.

• Result: The total gold recovery rate increased by more than 35% compared to direct gravity separation of the original tailings, bringing significant economic benefits to the client. This wet disc mill became a "profit multiplier" for the project.

Related Equipment Recommendations

Wet disc mills rarely operate alone; an efficient gold processing plant requires supporting beneficiation equipment:

• Jaw crusher: Used for primary crushing of ore, providing a suitable feed size for the wet disc mill.

• Shaking table: A classic gravity separation device used after the wet disc mill to separate gold ore and other heavy minerals.

• Centrifugal gold concentrator: Processes fine sludge materials and recovers ultrafine gold particles, serving as an optimized complement to the wet disc mill process.

• Amalgamation barrel/mercury plate: Directly paired with the wet disc mill to capture free gold particles during or after the grinding process. H2: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the maximum particle size of ore that a wet pan mill can handle?

Generally, the feed particle size should be controlled below 30mm, with the optimal feed particle size between 2-20mm.  The specific size depends on the ore hardness and the characteristics of gold particle distribution. It is recommended to configure crushing equipment in the preceding stage.

2. What are the main differences between a wet pan mill and a ball mill?

Wet pan mills primarily use crushing and grinding, resulting in a relatively coarser product particle size (usually 60-80% passing -200 mesh), but with good liberation effect, especially beneficial for free gold recovery; ball mills primarily use impact and grinding, achieving higher fineness and larger processing capacity, but also requiring higher investment and energy consumption. The two are often used in combination depending on process requirements.

3. What are the key maintenance points of the equipment?

1. Grinding rollers and pan liners: These are the main wear parts and require regular inspection for wear and timely replacement.

2. Gear lubrication: Ensuring good lubrication of the large and small gears is crucial for smooth operation.

3. Bearing temperature: Bearing temperature needs to be monitored during operation to prevent overheating damage caused by lack of lubrication or installation problems.

The wet pan mill is a time-tested and practical gold ore grinding equipment. It may not be the most high-tech, but it is often the most economical and direct solution. Choosing an experienced manufacturer ensures equipment quality, process suitability, and after-sales service, thus maximizing your return on investment.

Perfect after-sales service

Baichy Heavy Industry provides professional on-site guidance for installation, training of workers, and other services to ensure that customers can use the equipment smoothly.

The company has a complete after-sales service system, which can provide customers with timely technical support and equipment maintenance services to ensure the long-term stable operation of the equipment.

To prevent the rights and interests of customers from being infringed, Baichy Heavy Industry reminds customers: please contact our customer service staff through the official website of Baichy Heavy Industry , or add WhatsApp: 15093222637 ; or send an email to: [email protected] , we will get in touch with you as soon as possible and provide you with the most professional service in the industry.

Baichy Heavy Industry

Baichy Machinery is a factory supplier of mining machinery, mainly focusing on stone crushers, powder grinding mills, and mineral beneficiation plants. We can offer you a free design and completed solutions according to your project.

Baichy Heavy Industry has grown into a high-tech mining equipment comprehensive enterprise, integrating R&D, manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service, Passing ISO9001:2015 quality management system certifications. The main products are mobile jaw crushing plants, construction waste crushing plants, PE jaw crushers, VSI sand-making machines, Symons cone crushers, single-cylinder hydraulic cone crushers, PCX high-fine crushers, grinding mills, ball mills, and full sets of beneficiation equipment with an excellent level.