Gold found in Welland?

You would think that every Gold Panner would need a gold pan to get started but that isn't absolutely true.  In October of 2009 Ken came out to Edmonton for a visit from Welland and was determined to try a hand at gold panning.  It was the beginning of October and with the real gold panning season over we couldn't find a gold pan anywhere.  With Ken the determined kind of person that he is he went through my kitchen stuff and found a colander and a cereal bowl and off we went the river.  

We spent our vacation together visiting various parks in the city gathering samples for Ken to learn how to pan with.  It was quite exciting when Ken found the first pieces of colour.  Using the colander as his classifier we went to White Mud Park, Hawrelak Park and Terwilligar Dog Park.  He was so patient as he was learning to swish the dirt out of the cereal bowl.  As he removed layers of dirt and mud it revealed garnets, black sand and eventually gold.  

When it was time for Ken to go back to Welland we gathered concentrates and poured them into 3 pop bottles for him to practice with over the winter.  Damn if there wasn't a mini gold rush in Welland as Ken sat out in the garage panning out his concentrates.  He gave the garnets and the gold he brought back to Edmonton when he returned the next spring.  

When Ken came back out the next spring I had acquired a gold pan that I found at a local fishing store and he had a real pan to work with.  Between the 2 of us we now have 4 gold pans and a gold cube to work with to find the gold but the experience gained working with that silly cereal bowl in irreplaceable.  We still have the cereal bowl and it reminds us of how we started out in gold panning.  We can hardly wait for the river to be ready.

Happy panning

Angela