Yukon Gold Panning Championships

Panners of all skills and ages are invited to join this event that is based on a combination of efficiency and speed.  This open competition celebrates Yukon’s heritage as well as the mining industry that still thrives today!

7 categories are run through the day and there’s sure to be one that suits your ability level. Skill levels range from those who have never held a gold pan in their hands to those who make a living mining.  From beginner to professional, each category rewards a first, second and third place- all participants get to keep all the gold they find!

How the event works:

• Participants sign up on the day of the event – Registration opens at 12pm
• Panners are given an equal amount of dirt in a container (usually a pan or bucket’s worth).
• Each container of dirt contains Five (5) to Twelve (12) gold flakes- as small as a grinded piece of pepper!
• Each participant is given the same amount of flakes per categories.
• Each participant is not told and does not know the amount of flakes in their category.
• Panners pan out their container until they find gold (hopefully).
• Gold is transferred to a vial.
• Vial is shown to a scrutineer.
• Scrutineer and panner confirm amount of gold
• For each piece of gold missing from original container of dirt, panner is penalized three minutes
• Winners of categories are determined by final time (Final time is a combination of time completed container and penalty minutes added)