Work Under Way At New Gold Mine

A small surface gold-mining operation has started up in the Butte Gulch area of the Silver Valley.

Butte Mining LLC has brought processing equipment to the Butte Gulch to extract an estimated quarter-million ounces of gold over five years.

The proceeds from the surface - or placer - operation will be used to explore the possibility of starting a small open-pit gold mine in the same area. However, an open-pit project would need permits and take considerable time to bring to operation.

The surface-mining project now employs four miners, said John Beasley, president of Golden Chest Inc., which owns the land and leases it to Butte Mining.

Beasley said the cash flow from the activity at Butte Gulch will finance more exploration for gold in the area.

Newmont Mining Co. invested about $1 million in the area and found about 230,000 ounces of gold, he said. The deposit wasn’t large enough to keep Newmont’s interest, so Golden Chest will try to develop the site into an open-pit mine, he said.