During the 2011 South African Gold Panning Championships, held from 7 to 9 October in Pilgrim's Rest, one family demonstrated that competitive gold panning is truly an outdoor sport for the whole family. Their success also shows that gold panning requires skill which improves with years of regular practice and competition. With three second places between them, the family won three tickets to the 2012 European Gold Panning Championships to be held in Himos, Jamsa, Finland.
2011 Gold Panning Championship Achievements
Father Coen won the silver medal in the event for proficient men, while mother Sonja did the same in the proficient ladies' event after a nail-biting rerun of the finals. After winning the children's category the youngest daughter Sonet (9) achieved a second place in the junior category which she entered for fun and experience. While elder daughter Jane (11) was the only one not to win a silver medal she did take fourth place in her first championship as a junior. The family is definitely planning to club together to save for her ticket to Finland.
Coen and Sonja were also part of the 3-man and 5-man teams taking Gold medals as well as the Mac-Mac Gold Panning Club team which won second place in the Provincial team event.
Mac-Mac Gold Panning Club
The family has been panning seriously for about eight years - the two girls starting when they were able to pick the gold flakes from the pan as two-year old toddlers. Four years ago they were among the founder members of the Mac-Mac Gold Panning Club which currently has 45 members. The club holds six competitions a year at the Mac-Mac Forest Retreat, a resort between Pilgrim's Rest and Sabie. In between competitions club members get together regularly for practice and between them they earned 46 medals at the 2011 SA National Gold Panning Championships
What is Competitive Gold Panning
In gold panning competitions each competitor gets a bucket of between 15 and 20 Kg's of sand and gravel seeded with tiny gold flakes. The exact number of flakes for each event is known only to the judges. The object of the contest is to find all the gold flakes in the shortest possible time by using a gold pan to wash out the sand and gravel. The panning method is the same as used by the gold prospectors of old.
The sport is administered under the rules of the International Gold Panning Association and international competitions are held in towns where there is still alluvial gold. The 2012 International Gold Panning Championships will be held in Pilgrim's Rest, South Africa during October.
Frieda Paton - A published nurse author, Frieda has variety in her life being a part-time nurse, business owner and craft producer.
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