March 21, 2018

Gold prospecting in Scotland


I participated in the 2017 World Goldpanning Championships in Moffat Scotland. Moffat is a small town, but it is beautiful and has many tourists.

The championships were held at the athletic park after the nation’s parade. I am grateful for the fact that the BGA(British Goldpanning Association) has managed the championships wonderfully with such a small staff.

I am a beginner in the world competition for the second time. I should have practiced panning before going to Scotland, but I was busy with work. For this reason I was defeated in the second round.

I attempted gold prospecting in the natural river before and after the championships. I paid a mining fee at the Museum of Lead Mining near Moffat and went to a nearby river.

When I was looking for a place suitable for gold digging, I saw many gold diggers because it was the summer vacation period.

Although I searched all over the place, I couldn’t find any bedrock. A gentleman from London showed me the location of the bedrock. The depth to the bedrock was 50 to 100 cm. I only got fine gold in a few hours of work.

In the evening, I was attacked by the well-known Scottish midges. I brought mosquito coils from Japan and the effect was small. I wanted to have a spray-type insecticide, but I gave up because I can’t take it on an airplane.

Scottish landscape is wonderful and could have been enjoyed without midges and rain.

 “The Dark Sky Town” is good joke?
 The competition site before the championships
 The opening ceremony of the championships
 Museum of Lead Mining
 Large gold pan in the museum
 Wonderful Scottish view
 Mountains are colored in 3 colors, purple is heath, dark green is fern, green is lawn


 Gold sample collected by the gentleman from London
 Midge: The width of the ruled line is 7 mm
Mosquito coil (The components is plant)