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Yukon Dan wins bronze in Finland

Dan Moore – (A.K.A.) Yukon Dan has returned home with a bronze medal for Canada at the World Gold Panning Championships in Tankavaara, Finland.
Yukon Dan
Yukon Dan, left, with the rest of Team Canada , won bronze at the World Gold Panning Championships in Finland.

Dan Moore – (A.K.A.) Yukon Dan has returned home with a bronze medal for Canada at the World Gold Panning Championships in Tankavaara, Finland.

“I’m extremely proud to let you know our Canadian national team won the bronze medal against the best in the world in Finland,” he said in an email to the Optimist. “We knocked off Finland, Britian, Sweden, Italy, South Africa and the United States gold panners – the best the world has to offer.”

Besides Moore, the Canadian team consisted of Lorraine Miller from the Yukon, and Albertans Alexandra Hadash, Robin Rosborough and Jonathan Garner.

“We each where given a 30 pound bucket of dirt and had to find very small pieces of gold. We got them all – 16 out of 16 flakes,” Moore recounted. “Only three teams found all 16. We missed the silver by 21 seconds and the gold medal by one minute and 15 seconds. Finland did an awesome job hosting the competition.”

Moore qualified for the world’s, his 18th time at the competition, winning a qualifier in Dawson City, which was extra special for Moore, as Dawson City was where it all began for him as a gold-panner. It was in the rivers of the Yukon where he honed his skills and developed his craft. Also adding to the sweetness of the victory is the fact that this was the first year that the competition was open to contestants from all across Canada.

Although his reputation as a world-class panner had already been cemented, Moore was competing against the best gold-panners Canada has to offer.

Moore is now gearing up for the 2019 Fraser Valley Gold Panning championships, which is on Saturday, Aug. 17 at the Anderson Creek Campground in Boston Bar.

There will be more than 175 gold panners from across Canada and Europe competing for more than $5,000 in prizes and real gold.

Moore will also be hosting a free gold panning event in Yale on Aug. 15 and 16 from 2 to 6 p.m. and will provide all the equipment.

Moore, has been a long-time fixture at South Delta festivals and community events.

The Tsawwassen resident was honoured last year with the Gold Pan Award by the Association for Mineral Exploration for exceptional meritorious service to the mineral exploration community.

Moore has been doing outreach throughout B.C. for more than two decades. He builds awareness and educates the public about prospecting and exploring for gold in B.C. while communicating about the importance of minerals in our daily lives.

Through his many public engagements, Moore gives people of all ages an opportunity to try, first-hand, to discover gold in a pile of dirt through gold panning.

With more than 20 years of service, impacting more than 5,000 students each year and widespread public engagement at schools, conferences, field trips and events, Moore has contributed significantly to the industry.