The aftermath of the August floods is panning out for local business owner Blair Kneller.
After the basement of his Home Hardware franchise on 106 St. and 100 Ave. flooded during the Aug. 22 “once in a century” downpour, Kneller found himself having to rip up the basement of his business and re-pour the concrete.
It was while the contractor was looking at the condition of the floor that he suggested the concrete, made from rock taken from the Athabasca River, might hold a hidden treasure.
“There’s lots of fine little gold in there, but it’s tough to get out,” said Kneller.
“I’ve got a special bowl that helps remove the fine gold, but now I’ve found I need to get a finer screen which it turns out I don’t have.”
Before long, Kneller was mining his basement, panning for gold in his spare time and has found a small amount.
“I built myself a sluice,” said Kneller. “I’m running a bunch of stuff through it. There’s definitely some gold in the concrete, I just don’t know how much of it.”
Word got out and people around town quickly took interest, including mayor Ralph Leriger. As it turns out, Westlock has a bit of a history with panning for gold.
“I’ve panned for gold a number of times,” said Leriger.
“I started when I was about 13 or so. My dad, my brother and I bought gold pans and sluice boxes at the sportsman show. I’ve also taken my kids out to the Athabasca River when they were little. You can find gold, like big flecks of pepper.
“You’ve got to pick it out of your pan with an eye dropper. It’s lots of fun.”
Kneller added that no matter how small the amount, finding gold still brings out a special sense of joy.
“It feels amazing to find some,” he said. “I don’t care how big it is, it’s gold, right? I suspect I’ll keep whatever I find.”
Kneller won’t be trading in his business for the Klondike life, but the experience has brought him into a totally new hobby.
“It’s a lot of fun. It’s a great hobby,” said Kneller with a laugh. “It’s keeping me away from working. I’m going to keep working on it, probably in the evenings, until they start working on the floor again.”
