Mining’s back in town

After a half century, underground gold mining has returned to the California foothills in the small town of Sutter Creek. Sutter Gold Mining Co. is set to unearth up to 680,000 ounces of gold worth an estimated $1 billion.

However, like all minerals mining projects in the United States, the project was first met with a series of delays. Amador County supervisors approved the project in 1998, but it took 14 years and more than 40 permits from myriad state and federal agencies to get the project under way. Because of this inefficient permitting process, residents in the community have been missing out on high-paying jobs and a chance to strengthen their local economy.

The project is expected to be fully operational in Amador County—with 100 employees pulling out 150 tons of ore a day—by next spring. Sutter President and CEO Leanne Baker said that, “everyone on our team has a passion for bringing gold mining back to the Mother Lode. There’s a romance to it. There’s an excitement. We really do believe we are making history again.”

Read the whole article here.