Nathaniel Williamson hunted day and night, at least 50 hours, before he found his treasure.
On Tuesday night at Dawson Park, the 23 year-old plumber and gasfitter from Edmonton collected $100,000 in gold and silver he won as part of the GoldHunt treasure contest.
“It’s incredible. It’s a something out of a dream,” Williamson said.
Williamson bought a map for about $50 and went hunting.
“I worked extremely hard on it. Like every bit of spare time that I could muster and afford, I would just gun for it.”
Hiding spot still a mystery
GoldHunt would not allow Williamson to tell anyone where he found the treasure, until a similar hunt in Vancouver had concluded.
“We just keep it super top secret until the third one is found and then we’ll go ahead and release all of the exact pinpointed location of where the treasure is,” GoldHunt spokesperson Chris Cromwell said.
Williamson won the second version of GoldHunt held in Edmonton. The Duff family from Sherwood Park found the first treasure on June 1. Similar contests have also been held in Calgary.
GoldHunt responds to criticism
Some people online were upset with GoldHunt, after terms and conditions of the contest were changed during the hunt period.
“They weren’t necessarily changes to the rules. But unfortunately people misconstrue a change to the terms and conditions as something that might be worth getting upset about. When really it hasn’t affected anything to do with the Canadian hunts,” Cromwell said.
Cromwell said the changes were made to satisfy privacy laws in Texas, where GoldHunt has expansion plans.
Williamson also won a new Suzuki motorcycle. He’s not sure what he’ll do with the gold and silver, but he’s excited about the possibilities.
“There’s so much that’s just going through my mind. I’ll probably take a trip, I’ll probably invest in the stock market, I’ll probably put some on my mortgage,” Williamson said.
