Prepare
Classify material into narrow size ranges. Remove clay, oils, and organic matter before processing.
Auburn, California · Serving prospectors and treasure hunters worldwide
Outfitters of California Gold Country
You supply the dream.
We supply the gear.
Step back in time and experience the Gold Rush adventure. Pioneer Mining Supply stocks the equipment, field knowledge, and practical help to make it a reality.
Power sluicesSluice boxesGold pansMetal detectors
Home of the famous Blue Bowl
Fine-gold recovery equipment from Northern California.
Everything for the search
Prospecting gear for first pans and serious field work.
Pioneer carries new power sluices, sluice boxes, pans, books, metal detectors, wet suits, rock tools, and the basic equipment prospectors need. Visit the Auburn store for the broadest selection.
Gold recovery
Pans, classifiers, sluices, highbankers and fine-gold equipment.
Browse the online store →
Metal detecting
Detectors and field accessories for gold, coins and relics.
Browse the online store →
Rock tools
Picks, folding shovels, screens, books and rugged field tools.
Browse the online store →The original fine-gold favorite
Blue Bowl Concentrator
A few minutes spent reading the original instructions will save time and produce better recovery. Classify concentrates, use clean water, level the bowl carefully, and adjust flow so the vortex carries lighter material over the center cone while gold remains behind.
- Designed to recover very fine gold from concentrates
- Works with a recirculating water system
- A 12-volt, 750-GPH pump is recommended in the original guide
- Practice and careful setup are essential for best results
Original guidance, easier to follow
Blue Bowl setup & operation
Level
Place the Bowl over a bucket or tub, attach the water supply, and level it carefully in every direction.
Set the flow
Start slowly. Adjust the valve until lighter waste moves over the center cone without carrying gold away.
Feed gradually
Add small amounts of concentrate around the outside edge and let the vortex separate each feed.
Recover
When only gold and a little heavy black sand remain, stop the water and collect the retained concentrate.
Gold Districts of California
The original Pioneer Mining reference, reorganized for exploration.
Between 1848 and 1967, California produced more than 106 million troy ounces of gold—about 35 percent of United States production. The most productive districts lie in the northern and central Sierra Nevada, with important deposits also found in the Klamath Mountains, desert provinces, and other regions.
These district notes preserve the original site’s focus on historic camps, placer gravels, quartz veins, hydraulic workings, dredge fields, and the people who shaped Gold Country.
Alleghany
Rich pocket mines and exceptionally high-grade ore.
Read full district entry →Angels Camp
A historic Mother Lode camp founded during the rush.
Read full district entry →Coloma
Marshall’s 1848 discovery at Sutter’s Mill began the Gold Rush.
Read full district entry →Columbia
A celebrated placer-mining town preserved as a state park.
Read full district entry →Dutch Flat
A major hydraulic-mining and railroad-era community.
Read full district entry →Folsom
Gold-bearing gravels worked along the American River.
Read full district entry →Foresthill
Deep gravels and drift mines above the Middle Fork.
Read full district entry →Grass Valley
One of California’s most important quartz-mining districts.
Read full district entry →Hammonton
Extensive dredging fields in the lower Yuba River country.
Read full district entry →Iowa Hill
A remote ridge community built around rich channel gravels.
Read full district entry →Jackson–Plymouth
A productive central Mother Lode hard-rock district.
Read full district entry →La Porte
High-elevation placer and hydraulic workings.
Read full district entry →Malakoff
Home of the immense North Bloomfield hydraulic mine.
Read full district entry →Nevada City
A leading mining, supply, and financial center.
Read full district entry →Placerville
The historic Hangtown district and surrounding placers.
Read full district entry →Poker Flat
A rugged northern district of channels and old camps.
Read full district entry →Auburn
A Gold Rush camp that became the regional supply center.
Read full district entry →District material is drawn from Gold Districts of California, W. B. Clark, California Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193 (1970), and Pioneer Mining’s Auburn history collection.
From the original archive
Gold Country in pictures
Field library
Instructions, reading & forms
Visit Pioneer Mining Supply
Right here in Auburn’s Gold Country.
878 High Street
Auburn, California 95603
Store information
Monday–Friday9 AM–6 PM
Saturday10 AM–4 PM
Main phone530.823.9000
Second phone530.885.1801
Fax530.823.9001
Summer hours as published on the original site. Please call before making a special trip.