Don, remember they are not trying to keep gold in a pan during a panning contest. Usually the judges have thrown in lead shot and the name of the game is pan it down fastest to recover the lead shot. I doubt anyone would want to pan 40 lbs of gold bearing material un under a minute.

Thanks.  I just thought the pan was something very unique looking.

Hi, Don, was it a completely flat pan with a dropped center and lots of concentric rings?

Hi Don,

 Your best bet is to contact the author, Michael Greyshock at mrgreyshock@yahoo.com. He is second from the right in the main photo on the following website: http://eldorado2016.com Greyshock is also part of the U.S. delegation who traveled to Spain for the 2015 World Gold Panning Championships.

Thanks for the replies.  I think they said they were 14 inch and had a dropped center with riffles all the way around.  Also, they look pretty flat.

If it's the same one I've seen in videos of speed panning competitions, there's one called the Black Mamba Speed Pan. It was made in South Africa. I found a resort there whose web site said they might be for sale - I contacted them and was told the old guy who made them had died and there wouldn't be anymore, and they didn't have any. So, dead end. I'm still looking. If you locate them, would you mind posting it here? I'm a pan junkie and would love to find one of them.