Monday, 28th April 2008 (846 views)

Children as young as seven were taking part in gold panning activities at the recent Ninth Annual North Central Washington Prospectors Gold Show this weekend.

According to the Wenatchee World, seven-year-old James Delp eagerly learnt the finer points of panning for gold at the even, held over the weekend at Cashmere's Chelan County Fairgrounds.

"He's been excited about this for a week," the boy's mother, Jennifer Barker, told the publication.

Dan Yesberger, a 53-year-old prospector and representative of the Washington Prospectors Mining Association at the event, staffed a gold panning demo at the event.

He gave batches of dirt to children to filter, each concealing precious gold particles which would be given to the children to keep.

Mr Yesberger would rattle the metal in the vial so the children could hear the gold before they saw it.

"There's not one that don't smile when I do that. That's the only payment I get out of it," he said.

The Washington Prospectors Mining Association describes itself as the largest non-profit mining association in Washington state.

 

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