We are proud to announce The Ohio State Panning
Championship. The 1st Annual
Championship will be held on May 3 at the GPAA Swank Claim. Activities will start at 11:00AM. While the event is open to the public to
attend, you must be a member of the Buckeye Chapter of the GPAA (Gold
Prospectors Association of America), the GPAA Southern Ohio Tri State Chapter,
or the Ohio State Prospectors Association (OSPA) to compete for the Ohio Cup, presented
to the winning group for a years worth of bragging rights! The individual (Male and Female) Awards are
open to anyone, but you must reside in Ohio to compete for the Ohio Cup OR the Individual Awards. Below is how the
event will work:
Pre-Registration is Required! To participate in the event, you must either
fill out the online entry form found at https://forms.gle/4QUN48b5yhtvrdWC8,
or send an email to ohiobuckeyegold@gmail.com
and we will get you signed up.
9:00AM – Vendor and Swap Meet Setup. If you would like to setup to vend or sell
gear, feel free to find a location that is not taped off near the main pavilion.
11:00AM – Speed Panning Warmups. Grab a pan and warm up your speed panning
skills in one of the panning troughs provided.
11:30AM – Time Qualifications Begin For the Championship. The process for the points scoring will be as
follows:
1.)
Each person will have the opportunity to speed
pan. This will be timed by a scorekeeper. When you submerge your pan in the water, the
timing will start. When you pan down
your material, locate the 3 gold nuggets in your pan, pick them out and present
them to the judge in your hand, your time will be stopped and officially
scored.
2.)
Once everyone has the opportunity to go through
round 1, you will have a 2nd opportunity to speed pan again. You will then have the opportunity to select
which score of your two you would like entered as your final score.
3.)
OHIO CUP AWARD – Each chapter will have
their scores tallied up for an average score across their respective
chapter. The chapter with the lowest
time (Score) average will be declared the 2025 Ohio State Panning Championship
Winner, taking home the Ohio Cup. This
cup will be in the possession of the winning chapter for 1 year, and must be
returned to the following years Ohio State Panning Championship to be awarded
to that years winner. The Ohio Cup will
have engravable plaques on it to show each years winner. It will be the responsibility of the hosting
chapter to have that years nameplate engraved for the winner.
4.)
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS – The lowest score for
male and lowest score for female will each be declared the Ohio State Panning
Championship Individual Winner. The host
chapter each year will be responsible for for having 2 plaques made: 1 for Male
winner and 1 for Female winner.
5.)
TIE BREAKER – In the event of a tie on
the Ohio Cup, each of the tied chapters will have their top 2 scorers pan
again. We will then average each of the
chapters to determine a winner. This
will continue until there is no longer a tie. In the event of a tie on the Individual
Awards, the 2 tying individuals will each have another panning
opportunity. This will happen until we no
longer have a tie.
6.)
SCORE KEEPERS – We will have 2 score keepers
for the event. The score keepers are
eligible to participate with their respective chapter. The 2nd score keeper will keep
score of the 1st score keeper as they pan, and so on.
7.)
HOST CHAPTER – The Buckeye Chapter will
host the 1st Annual Ohio State Panning Championship. This will be held at the GPAA Swank West
Lease. We will flip a coin at the
inaugural event to see if the OSPA or Tri State chapter will host in 2026. The loser of that flip will host in 2027,
then keep the rotation going with BCGPAA in 2028 and so forth. The host chapter can choose where they plan
to host the event for their year.
1:00PM – Potluck Lunch. If the panning has not concluded, we will
break for lunch and resume panning after.
Please be sure to let us know in your registration what you plan to
bring for the potluck.
1:45PM – If necessary, resume panning. If additional time is not needed, winners and
awards will be announced and presented, and photos will be taken at this time.
3:00PM – Prospector Campfire. Weather permitting, we will have a campfire for
the 3 chapters to relax and socialize.
This will commence at the large firepit near the main pavilion.
We hope to see you at the event! For more information, visit the Buckeye
Chapter of the GPAA on Facebook or at www.buckeyegold.com. All information will also be posted on the
Facebook pages of the Southern Ohio Tri State Chapter as well as the OSPA.
