Title in the pan

THE Victorian Gold Panning Championships were held in Bendigo for the first time on Saturday.Central Deborah Gold Mine hosted the event in partnership with the Victorian Gold Panning Association. Central Deborah Gold Mine sales and marketing manager Evonne Oxenham, who helped organise the event, said the weather was perfect, and there was some good competition. More than 50 competitors took part in the event, across five levels of competition – under-12; 13 to 16-year-old; novice, skilled and traditional pan categories. Bill Dempster won the traditional pan category, and John McNamara won the novice category. Rodney Melham won the skilled category; Hamish Cox, the 13-16-year-old category; and Sebastian Binks, the under-12 section. The overall champion was Peter Cox.People came from as far as Sydney to take part. Victorian Gold Panning Association president Marcus Binks said the event was also seen as a stepping stone to World Championships which will be held in Poland next year.