PANNING ROTATION: Rotation of panners will be determined by a drawing. Numbers will be placed in a gold pan, and contestants will draw a number for starting positions. The defending champion, if entered, will pan first.

PANS: Each contestant will start with a regulation Garrett Positive Gravity Trap Pan provided by the Championship committee. There will also be a judge’s pan with an empty vial in the pan that has been chosen by the Championship committee. The vial will be used to place the nuggets in. The vial will remain in the judge’s pan after the panner has inspected the cap for sand, until the panner is ready to place the nuggets in the vial.

GOLD NUGGETS: Eight (8) pea-sized nuggets provided by the Championship committee will be placed in a jar (jar to be chosen by the Championship Committee) of dry sand. The jar will be half filled with sand, the nuggets placed in the jar and the jar will be filled to the top with more sand. The pan will be placed over the jar’s mouth. The pan and jar will be turned over, placed on the table, and the jar lifted off, leaving the sand and gold in the pan. At this time the contestant can check the vial in the judge’s pan.

PROCEDURE: Beginning with a pan of nuggets and sand, each contestant will remove the sand, leaving the nuggets, by panning. No gloves, screens, or other devices may be used. If a nugget leaves the pan, it cannot be retrieved. Whenever the panner feels he or she can pick out the nuggets, the panner will take the nuggets out of the pan, using only the fingers, put the nuggets into the vial from the judge’s pan, and screw the top on the vial. The nuggets cannot be scooped from the hand or the pan into the vial. The panner will then place the vial in the judge’s pan and then yell “GOLD” to stop the time. There must be more gold than sand in the vial by volume.

TIMING: There will be three (3) timers. Timing will begin when the panner touches the sides of the pan. Timing will end when the panner places the capped vial in the judge’s pan and yells “GOLD”.

JUDGING: Judging will commence after the panner has placed the vial in the judge’s pan and yells “GOLD”. The judge will then empty the vial into the judge’s pan and count the nuggets and determine if there is less sand by volume than gold. The judge’s ruling is final.

PENALTIES: A thirty (30) second penalty will be assessed for each nugget lost. Four (4) or more nuggets lost or more sand than gold will result in disqualification.

A thirty (30) second penalty will be assessed if the lid is not screwed on the vial or if the lid falls off the vial in the judge’s pan.

SKILL GOLD PANNING RULES

PANS: Each contestant will start with a regulation Twelve (1) inch steel gold pan provided by the Judge, a vial filled with only water, and a bucket of sand. Each bucket of sand will be filled to the same level by the judge and the assistants. The judge and the assistants will also add the gold flakes to each bucket of sand.

GOLD FLAKES: The number of flakes placed in the buckets of sand will be between 5 and 10 flakes. The same number of gold flakes will be added to each bucket, determined by the Judge and the assistants for each competition or round. Only the judge and the assistants will know how many flakes are in the buckets of sand.

PROCEDURE: When told to start each contestant will pour the sand into their pan and begin panning. The contestant may stir the sand in the pan with their hands. The contestant may not use their hands to remove any sand. Each panner will remove the sand by panning until they feel they can remove the flakes .The contestants are not allowed to retrieve any sand that is lost from their bucket when pouring into the pan, or from their pan in the troughs to retrieve lost flakes. Any material poured on the panning surface, or any gold found on the panning surface CAN NOT BE RETRIEVED.

The panner will then place the gold into the vial using only their fingers. When they have removed the gold from the pan the contestant will clean the sand from their pan and proceed to the judges’ table.

TIMING: All panners will begin at the same time. There will be a 15 minute time limit on this event.

DETERMINATION OF CHAMPION: After all the contestants are at the judges’ table, the judge will determine if the pan is clean, then empty the contents of each vial into the panners’ pans. The judge will then count the flakes. The panner with the highest number of flakes proceeds to the front of the line. In the event of a tie in any position, the panner that was at the judging area first wins that position. The judges’ ruling is final.

PAN MUST BE CLEAN

VIAL MUST NOT HAVE MORE FLAKES AT THE END OF TIME THAN THE JUDGE HAD DETERMINED TO PUT IN THE BUCKETS

EITHER OF THESE VIOLATIONS RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION

SPEED GOLD PANNING RULES

PANNING ROTATION: Rotation of panners will be determined by a drawing of numbers. Numbers will be placed in a gold pan and contestants will draw a number for starting positions. The defending champion, if entered, will pan first.

PANS: Each contestant will start with a regulation ten (10) inch steel gold pan provided by the Judge. The pan will be filled level with sand. There will also be a Judge’s pan with an empty vial that has been chosen by the Championship Committee in the pan. The vial will be used to put the nuggets in. The vial will remain in the judge’s pan after the panner has inspected the cap for sand until the panner is ready to place the nuggets in the vial.

GOLD NUGGETS: Eight (8) pea-sized gold nuggets, provided by the Championship Committee, will be placed in the sand using a board with eight equally spaced holes in it. The judge will then push the nuggets into the sand using the artificial knuckle so all the nuggets are at the same depth. At this time the contestant may check the vial in the judge’s pan.

PROCEDURE: Beginning with a pan of nuggets and sand, each contestant will remove all material (sand) except the nuggets by panning. No gloves, screens, or other devices may be used. If a nugget leaves the pan and falls into the trough or lands on the ground or the side of the trough, it cannot be retrieved. The nuggets must remain in the pan until the panner is ready to place all the nuggets in the vial Whenever the panner feels he or she can pick out the nuggets, the panner may take the nuggets out of the pan, using only the fingers, and put the nuggets into the vial from the judge’s pan, screwing the top on the vial. The nuggets cannot be scooped from the hand or the pan into the vial. The panner will then place the vial in the judge’s pan and yell “GOLD”.

JUDGING: Judging will commence after the panner has placed the vial in the judge’s pan and yells “GOLD”. The judge will then empty the vial into the pan and count the nuggets. There must be more gold than sand by volume.

The judge’s ruling is final.

PENALTIES: A thirty (30) second penalty will be assessed for each nugget lost. Four (4) or more nuggets lost will result in disqualification.

A thirty (30) second penalty will be assessed if the lid is not screwed on the vial or if the lid falls off the vial in the judge’s pan.

NATIONAL/WORLD STYLE GOLD PANNING RULES

GOLD PANNING RULES

PANS: Each contestant will start with their own gold pan, a vial filled with only water and a bucket of sand which has had gold placed into it by the judges' assistants. The gold pan can be up to and including 20 inches in diameter and no more than 6 inches deep. Each bucket of sand will be filled to the same level by the judge and the assistants.

GOLD FLAKES: The same number of gold flakes will be added to each bucket, determined by the Judge and the assistants for each competition or round. The number of flakes will be between 5 and 10. Only the judge and the assistants will know how many flakes are in the buckets of sand for that competition or round.

PROCEDURE: Buckets will be picked up at the judges table by competitors and fill the vial with water. They will then proceed to the designated panning area where they will set their bucket and pan. After that no competitor can touch the pan or bucket until the time starts. When told to start each contestant will pour the sand into their pan and begin panning. The contestants are not allowed to retrieve any sand that is lost from their bucket when pouring into the pan, or from their pan in the troughs to retrieve lost flakes. Any material poured on the ground, or any gold found on the ground CAN NOT BE RETRIEVED. THIS IS A DISQUALIFICATION. The contestant may stir the sand in the pan with their hands. The contestant may not use their hands to remove any sand. Each panner will remove the sand by panning until they feel they can remove the flakes. The panner will then place the gold into the vial using only their fingers. When they have removed the gold from the pan the contestant will clean the sand from their pan and raise it over their head yelling “GOLD” and proceed to the judges’ table.

TIMING: All panners will begin at the same time. There will be a 15 minute time limit on this event. There will be time keepers to take time for contestants as they raise their hands to signal they are done in the event that more than one heat is held.

DETERMINATION OF CHAMPION: After the contestants are at the judges’ table, the judge will then empty the contents of each vial into the panners pan. The judge will then determine if the pan is clean and will then proceed to count the number of flakes in the pan. The panner with the highest number of flakes proceeds to the front of the line. Places are determined by number of flakes and fastest time .In the event of a tie in any position, the panner that was at the judging area first wins that position. The judges’ ruling is final.

DISQUALIFICATION OCCURS IF THERE ARE MORE FLAKES IN THE PAN THAN THE JUDGE AND THEIR ASSISTANTS PUT IN THE BUCKETS OR THE PAN HAS NOT BEEN CLEANED.

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GOLD PANNING RULES