Each participant will be provided with a bucket containing between 15 and 20 kg of sand and between 5 and 12 gold nuggets, a tube for collecting the gold and a bib with the corresponding number of his or her box. In the final rounds, the number of nuggets varies between 7 and 12, and in the team rounds between 10 and 20.

There can never be more than one participant in the box at the same time. In the pairs, 3- or 5-person and group categories, the participant who has finished panning must get out of the box before the next participant can enter. If the judges see two participants in the box at the same time, the team will get a 2 minute penalty.

When participants in the pairs, 3- and 5-person teams and group categories share a pan, it must be fully washed before each participant starts panning. Failure to do so will mean a 2 minute penalty for the team. The bib must be worn by the last participant who will be panning and the rest of the team must leave the competition area once they have finished panning.

Each participant must always wash the pan before the start of each round.

Once all the participants are at their box, the round will begin with three commands that will be heard loud and clear:

“take your place” / “preparados”

“get ready” / “listos”

“go” / “ya”

which indicates that you can start panning. Until that moment, you cannot touch either the pan or the bucket with the sand.

In the individual categories, the maximum time for panning is 15 minutes. In pairs and 3-person teams the maximum time is 20 minutes, and 25 minutes for all other groups.

If the tube for the gold or plug for closing it fall into the water or on the ground, the judges must be called to replace it.

If the pan falls to the bottom of the box or at any time a judge sees that a participant is retrieving sand from the bottom of the box, this will result in automatic disqualification.

Each participant is responsible for ensuring that their bucket with the sand does not fall over. If it does, only the sand remaining in the bucket may be panned.

Once you have finished panning and plugged the tube with the gold, you must raise your hand and shout “stop” to have your time counted. Raising your hand to stop the time before plugging the tube with the gold will mean a 2 minute penalty.

Once you have finished, you must put the tube on the pan, without removing it at any time, and approach the judges for them to count and confirm the nuggets found. If, while walking towards the judges, the tube were to open and the nuggets spill out onto the pan, the judges must be called immediately. Only the nuggets remaining in the tube will be counted.