On July 26, 2025, the IX annual gold-bearing sand washing competition “Prospector’s Fart” ended in Magadan, which became a landmark event for the Russian mining industry. All three prizes were won by local residents, demonstrating their high skill in working with gold-bearing sands.
Results of gold miners’ competitions
The winners of the “Prospector’s Fart-2025” competition:
1st place: Lyubov Lebedeva (Magadan)
● Result: 1.91 g of gold
● Prize: 1 million rubles
● Profession: the economist of the Kolyma coal company
2nd place: Alexander Mogilin (Magadan)
● Result: 1.73 g of gold
● Prize: 700 thousand rubles
3rd place: Anastasia Petrova (Magadan)
● Result: 1.53 g of gold
● Prize: 300 thousand rubles
The scale of the event for the mining industry
This year, 199 applications were received, 60 finalists were admitted to the competition from 20 Russian cities and the Republic of Belarus. The participants were divided into three groups of 20 people each.
The prize fund: 2 million rubles is the largest among such competitions in the field of traditional gold mining.
Competition conditions for subsurface users
The participants of the gold mining competition worked in conditions as close as possible to real prospecting activities:
✅ Flushing time: 15 minutes
✅ Tools: tray, kylo, half-bottle of water
✅ Material: gold-bearing sand from Kolyma deposits
Venue: Dukcha Ethnopark at the mouth of the Dukcha River
“Prospector’s Fart” performs an important function for the development of the gold mining industry:
1. Popularization of traditional methods of subsurface use
The competition demonstrates classic gold-bearing sand washing technologies that are relevant for small-scale gold mining and art mining.
2. Professional training of personnel
Master classes on prospecting contribute to the training of specialists for subsurface use enterprises in the region.
3. Regional development of gold mining
The event draws attention to the mineral resource potential of the Magadan Region, one of the key gold mining regions of Russia.
Prospector’s Fart Festival has been held since 2015 as part of the annual Golden Festival and has become:
● The only gold washing competitions in Russia
● The business card of the Magadan region in the field of subsoil use
● A platform for the exchange of experience between specialists of the gold mining industry
In addition to the main competitions, the organizers held a lottery “Lucky Spectator”:
● The main prize: a car, won by Victor, a resident of Magadan
● Additional prizes: quad bikes went to Vladimir and Yulia