Amador County – Sutter Gold Mining Incorporated has drawn international attention this week as a television film crew from the Netherlands was at the site Wednesday planning a children’s documentary on the Gold Rush.

The crew, including researcher Edda Heinsman, are making three show segments for their television station’s children’s educational program, about Silicon Valley, earthquakes, and the Gold Rush. Heinsman said what interested them was that the Lincoln Mine will be a functioning gold mine.

Sutter Gold Mining Vice President David Cochrane said the local piece will be about historical mining and how the mine explored and established its resources and how it builds and activates its mine.

The mine faces county, state and federal regulations on its way to opening, and it could be up to full construction this fall, including removing the gold from ore and melting it down, and pouring the bullion. The site is completely winterized, and a building permit from Amador County has been received for the mill. The foundation will be set, the heavy equipment to be stored for milling will then be lowered in place by a crane, and the mill housing unit will be constructed around the equipment, Cochrane said.

Mine Superintendent James D. Smith said a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration 404 permit for crossing a man-made wetland, used for watering livestock, has offered one permitting delay. He said about 12 stopes, or levels for working on the mine, would be built by the time the production gets under way. A crew of three now works underground on the stopes.

Cochrane said a 30-hole core drilling operation that started in January is about one-third complete. It compiles data that creates a map of the Mother Lode vein below the surface.

Rock mined at the site is reclaimed for construction, and other work includes a second ingress and egress shaft for entry and exit from the mine, as required. The project will also place a third shaft for entry and exit. They will be 8-by-8 feet tunnels, large enough to drive through, but smaller than the existing 12-by15 foot tunnel.

Crew members including Holly Boitano and Andrew Cochrane were taking well samples of ground water as part of daily sampling work. Boitano said one well’s water level was 160 feet deep. Smith said Boitano is the face of the company at many regulatory meetings, because of her expertise. David Cochrane said Smith, from Colorado, is a very experienced mining supervisor, and is a “fourth or fifth generation hard rock, narrow vein underground miner.”

The project will resume mining on the former Lincoln Mine. Cochrane said it was estimated that the old mine removed only about 10 percent of the gold that is located at the site.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.