Amador County – Board members and officials of Sutter Gold Mining have waited patiently for Friday, which with placing a cornerstone ceremoniously marked the restart of underground gold mining operations in the Mother Lode after 50 years.

Rick Winters, president of RMB Resources, and member of Sutter Gold Mining’s board of directors, said when permitting is in place, Sutter Gold Mining will have $20 million invested in the Lincoln Mine project in Amador County. He said there was never a very large mine here in the Mother Lode. There were many, many small mines. He said there were 100 mines between Sutter Creek and Jackson.

Winters said Sutter Gold Mining built a solid core team, including chief financial officer Robert Hutmacher. He said “David Cochrane is as good a permitting specialist as I know.” They are merchant bankers and miners, and “by the time we start producing gold we will have $30 million in the project.” He quoted Winston Churchill, saying: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Permitting began in the 1980s, and the business was patient, Winters said, with the property managed by Stacey Rhoads, and mine tours managed by Chris Boitano. Winters said the company purchased half of the mine in 2008 when the gold market fell, and they were suddenly the “major shareholder in an industry that no one had faith in. We did.” They saw success with their Mesquite Gold Mine in Southern California, which is now the state’s biggest gold mine.

They hope to get 400,000 ounces from Lincoln Mine, and if it is profitable, they may expand operations to neighboring lands. Matt Collins, chief operating officer said “today we celebrate the beginning of a new gold mine.” A mining engineer, Collins said “opening a new mine is an exciting time and we are mere months from the first metal production.”

They will focus on the shallow portion of the Lincoln. Collins said they will develop 5 miles of tunnels, move 200,000 tons of rock, and replace most of it. They will produce as much gold as the rock will yield.

President and CEO, Doctor Leanne Baker said the company would try to prove to all of the people in this industry and in this state that they can operate on a sustainable basis for a long, long time.

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