successful $24.0 million bid for the assets and stock of Sterling Mining Company, the operator of the historic Sunshine Mine. The successful bidder—with a cash price of $24.0 million—was Silver Opportunity Partners LLC (SOP). SOP is a privately held company owned by Thomas Kaplan. It is based in New York as part of the Electrum Group of Companies, an international investor in precious metal mines. On February 14, 2012, the mine was evacuated after a sensor in a vent shaft detected elevated levels of carbon monoxide inside. Twelve people were underground at the time, during the evening. All were workers for an underground mining services contractor called The Redpath Group, with headquarters in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. The mine was evacuated and sealed. All intakes feeding oxygen into the mine had to be sealed off, and nitrogen was injected to further reduce oxygen levels and extinguish the fire. On June 12, 2012, working under the guidance of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) the seal was broken on the shaft and crews reached the mine's 3,100-foot level where the fire started. Gas readings at the 3,100 level showed no carbon monoxide and appropriate levels of oxygen, indicating the fire was out. Geology The Coeur D'Alene District is hosted by rocks of the Pre-Cambrian Belt Supergroup, exceeding 20,000 feet in thickness. The Silver Belt is bounded by the Osburn Fault to the north and the Big Creek Fault to the south. The overturned Big Creek Anticline lies within the Polaris Fault to the north and the Big Creek Fault to the south, with maximum displacements of about 5000 feet. Ore deposits occur along veins within the northern limb of this anticline, with an E-W strike and dipping steeply to the south. The veins are composed of siderite, quartz and ankerite, with siderite making up the gangue. The ore mineral is tetrahedrite with 11% silver, making it freibergite. In 1930, an extremely rich ore body was discovered within the Sunshine Mine at the 1700 foot level, followed closely by the Crescent and Polaris mines. By 1937, the Sunshine Mine was producing more silver than any other mine in the world, with 13,971,196 fine ounces per 319,310 tons of crude ore. Additionally, the mine produced 3,091,085 pounds of copper, 1,479,175 pounds of lead, and 659 ounces of gold. By 1949, the Sunshine Mine had 186,000 feet of workings, including the 3900