In another win for South Africa, the World Gold Panning Championships hosted on home soil saw South Africans win gold for their gold!
Pilgrim’s Rest, South Africa (12 November 2023) — As we celebrate an abundance of proudly South African achievements for the year so far, yet another has hopped onto our radars, this time for a competition so unique, it’s only fitting that it’s all about gold. The World Gold Panning Championships hosted on home soil saw South Africans win gold for their golden skills!
It was a week of family fun for participants who came from all around the world to compete earlier this year and competed in various events.
For those who aren’t in the loop, the World Gold Panning Championships are a unique sport in which participants use the skills used by gold prospectors of days gone by.
“The aim of the sport is to find, in the fastest time, the undisclosed number of gold pieces in your bucket of gravel and sand,” explains the SA Gold Panning Association.
There are various rules applied, and time penalties are allocated for any pieces lost.
Overall, the 2023 edition of the competition, hosted in Pilgrim’s Rest, Mpumalanga, saw 356 competitors go for gold, with 87 representing 16 foreign countries.
South Africa were crowned the overall winners of the National Teams, with Judith Mason, Linda Traill, Dix van Dam, Coen Vermaak and Sonja Vermaak taking the throne.
In other South African wins, the proficient Women award went to Sonja Vermaak, Surprise Mdluli won the Traditional Klondike while Coen Vermaak took home the Veterans win with Pholosho Mogane earning the Children’s victory.
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