The sale of the controlling shares of Sutter Gold Mining Company is set to close this week. Sutter Gold Mine, located between Sutter Creek and Amador City, was constructed in 1989 after the price of gold topped 600 dollars per ounce in the mid-80s. The mine was in operation for two years, but then closed in 1991 when the price of gold plummeted. It has not been in operation since. The mine has seen over 500,000 visitors to their popular mine tour over the last 8 years. Talk of reopening the mine has been ongoing since the mine closed, but has become more serious with increasing gold prices. In December, the price of gold skyrocketed to 1,000 dollars an ounce.

Last year, Sutter Gold Mining Company completed an extensive exploratory core-drilling program in order to assess an accurate estimate of reserves. Last month, US Energy Corporation, of Riverton Wyoming, announced the sale of the controlling shares of Sutter Gold Mining Company to the company Rand Merchant Bank Resources. RMB Resources is an international corporation, and is rated as one of South Africa’s top investment banks. RMB’s United States office is based in Denver, Colorado. Last week, officials of RMB and US Energy Corporation met in Vancouver to discuss appointments to the new Sutter Gold Board. The parties also discussed candidates to replace Hal Herron as Sutter Gold’s CEO. Details have not yet been released, but RMB’s executives will visit Sutter Creek this week to continue talks. Keep watching TSPN this week to hear the outcome of the deal.