'Gold doesn't sparkle - it shines'

COEUR d’ALENE — Two 7-year-olds, Charlie Dircksen and Kyler Brabeck, of Coeur d'Alene, smiled as a small amount of gold became apparent in the pan as the dirt washed away into the large bin of water.

"Gold doesn't sparkle — it shines," Mike Ferry, member of the Northwest Gold Prospectors Association, explained to the boys at the 17th annual NWGPA Gold and Treasure show Sunday.

Another member of the club, Ken Lindahl, demonstrated what Ferry meant by putting his hand over one pan that appeared to have gold in it, but the pieces did not shine when the light was taken from them. When he placed his hand over another pan the pieces still shone, indicating it was real gold.

"The boys are total rock hounds," said Kyler's "bonus" grandma, Sheila, as Ferry taught the boys how to pan gold. "They heard there was rocks and treasure and gold — we couldn't get here fast enough."

The Gold and Treasure show was held in the Jacklin Building at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds over the weekend. Members of the NWGPA, like Ferry and Lindahl, demonstrated how to pan gold, and others showed guests how to use a sluice box, which is placed in a river or a creek to separate gold from gravel. Others came from around the region with jewelry and gold nuggets and coins to sell or show off.

Don Enright and Coy McGaha from North Central Washington Prospectors come to the show every year from Wenatchee, Wash., and Enright said several of the vendors from the Coeur d'Alene show go to their show in Washington as well.

They were selling tickets for a raffle and had several $100 bills, 15 to be exact, in a frame on their table as first prize. The winner will be drawn during the NCWP Gold and Treasure Show April 23. The other prizes included a metal detector, a $500 gift card and a 6.1 gram gold nugget.

"There is a lot of people interested in gold," McGaha said. "Right now the price is kind of down, but it has to go back up. They put gold in everything, telephones and computers, because gold is a good conductor."

"Gold is king," added Pat Hanneman of Forty Mile Gold, who was selling Ziplocs of Alaska "paydirt" — dirt guaranteed to have some gold in it.

Several of the other vendors were using the paydirt to give gold panning lessons and demonstrate sluicing. Bob Lowe, Gold and Treasure show chairman, used some of the paydirt to show off a unique invention created by his granddaughter, Jinger, when she was just 11 years old.

Lowe's wife, Mary, explained that most people break down the dirt they get from sluicing and end up with several five-gallon buckets full of material.

"Rather than pan out each one, then you run it through this machine and the gold will stay down in the bottom and then you don't have as much to pan out," Mary said. "And you don't lose your gold."

Jinger's machine won first place in the "working invention" category at a science fair when she attended North Idaho STEM Charter Academy. She is now 14 and Bob Lowe said she is "one smart kid."

Lowe said the show this year had been busy as usual, adding they typically have about 1,200 guests come throughout the weekend to check out the show.

"We started off 17 years ago at the armory with, I think, five vendors," he said. "That was our first show and we've grown."

He said a couple years ago they were up to 64 vendors, but believes the economy has effected the number of vendors at the show. He was unsure exactly how many vendors were in attendance, but said they were "down a few" from last year.

Lowe said the NWGPA club started in 1996 and they have an average of about 350 members, though the number fluctuates often. Once a month the members can go to Eagle City Park, an area specifically developed for the club members to pan for gold.

"It's a great thing for families," Lowe said. "You're outdoors, you get fresh air ... I always tell the kids that gold prospecting is great because it's the only time you get to play in the mud and the water and nobody yells at you."