Pan Aifang,  a native of Yexian County, Henan Province, is a professor and doctoral/master's supervisor at Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology (XAUAT). She earned her B.Eng. in Geological Survey and Prospecting from Changchun College of Geology in 1986 and her Ph.D. in Geochemistry from Northwest University in 2005. She currently serves as the Dean of the Institute of Full-Volume Resource Utilization of Solid Waste at XAUAT's Cross-Innovation Research Institute and holds an adjunct appointment as a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her academic work and teaching primarily encompass solid waste resource utilization, environmental geochemistry, ore deposit geochemistry, and mineral resource exploration and assessment. To date, she has led over 40 research projects, authored or co-authored more than 60 papers, been granted 35 national invention patents and 8 utility model patents, and published 4 monographs.

Under the leadership of Professor Pan, the research team dedicated to full-volume utilization of solid waste has been actively engaged in this field since 2006. Departing from the conventional "gold-from-sand" approach that focuses on selective extraction, the team has pioneered a novel paradigm termed "retaining the sand while extracting the gold," which advocates for the holistic valorization of solid waste. They have developed versatile technologies applicable to a wide spectrum of waste streams—including low-grade ores, metal tailings, coal-based solid wastes, and spent lithium-ion batteries—that enable efficient separation and recovery of both major constituents ("sand") and trace valuable elements ("gold") under low-energy and low-cost conditions, achieving near-complete consumption of the waste. This technological package has been evaluated by expert panels organized by the Shaanxi Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deemed to have attained internationally leading performance. The team has completed bench- and pilot-scale tests on over 30 waste types. Since 2016, industrial-scale trials have been successfully conducted on production lines at facilities including the Chinalco Shandong Aluminum Plant and Hanzhong Zinc Industry, targeting low-grade bauxite, red mud, pyrite cinder, and zinc smelting granulated slag—all with favorable outcomes. The technology is now poised for broader deployment. In 2025, the team established a 2,250 m² engineering pilot base with an annual throughput of 2,000 tons at the Qinhan New City Auto Parts Industrial Park in the Xixian New Area, significantly accelerating the transition from pilot validation to large-scale industrial application.

Major Research Projects Led:

1. Industrial-scale technology development for producing strategic aluminum feedstock from low-grade bauxite, Beijing Weiranxin Technology Co., Ltd., 2026–2028.

2. Technology development for full-volume resource utilization of metal tailings, Shaanxi Provincial Technology Innovation Guidance Special Fund, 2024–2027.

3. Fundamental research on full-volume utilization technology for pyrite cinder, Open Research Fund of the National Engineering Research Center for Sludge Safe Disposal and Resource Utilization, 2024–2026.

4. Shaanxi Qinchuangyuan "Scientist + Engineer" Team Building Program, 2024–2026.

5. Enrichment and separation of rubidium, molybdenum, and zirconium from Jinduicheng molybdenum tailings, Beijing Weiranxin Technology Co., Ltd., 2023–2025.

6. Industrial-scale trial on valorization of magnesium olivine tailings from Shangnan, Shangnan Jinrun Mining Co., Ltd., 2023–2024.

7. Research on tailings management and integrated resource utilization in Shaanxi Province, Shaanxi Provincial Ecological Civilization Construction Promotion Association, 2021–2022.

8. Industrial-scale trial on comprehensive utilization of Baihe pyrite cinder, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Shaanxi Nonferrous Metals Group, 2021–2022.

9. Industrial-scale trial on integrated utilization of low-grade bauxite, red mud, and blended red mud–ore feeds, Chinalco International Technology Development Co., Ltd. & Chinalco Shanxi New Materials Co., Ltd., 2018–2019.

10. Novel technologies for comprehensive utilization of low-grade bauxite, Central University Fundamental Research Fund, 2018–2019.

11. Novel comprehensive utilization technologies for bauxite, Beijing Weiranqing Technology Co., Ltd., 2014–2017.

12. Survey and development-oriented research on potential mineral resources in Shiquan County, Shiquan County Urban-Rural Development Co., Ltd., 2017–2019.

13. Technology for alumina and fine silicic acid extraction from fly ash, Public Welfare Fund of the Ministry of Land and Resources, 2014–2016.