Gold Panning

In the gold panning event, all five competing team members will be given a one pound coffee can of dirt and rock each, in which five flattened and split lead or copper bbs will be mixed in. All five members start at the same time, and will pan concurrently at the same trough. Each member will be responsible for finding all five bbs in his or her respective pan. Each competitor is given a maximum of five minutes to recover the bbs. Once all five bbs are recovered from the pan, the judge will call time on each panner. The lowest combined time of all panners on a team will determine the winner. In the case of each lost bb, a five-minute penalty will be added on to the team's cumulative score.

This event hasn't and probably won't change due to its ease and popularity to prospectors, past and present. It was the one single method that made and lost many early prospectors riches. The goldfields may not have existed were it not for alluvial gold being found by gold panning. If you would like to try your luck at gold panning, head inside the Mining Hall of Fame complex and give it a go.