FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 13, 2025

 

Contact: Kayla Browne, Desert and Renewable Energy Policy Director, Friends of the Inyo, 313.719.0860, [email protected]

 

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD OPENS FOR CONTROVERSIAL MINING PROJECT ON CALIFORNIA DESERT TRIBAL LANDS

The general public is encouraged to submit comments on the proposed project before June 16, 2025

 

LONE PINE, CA — The Bureau of Land Management has released the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) signaling the opening of the public comment period for a proposed expanded mining exploration drilling project at Conglomerate Mesa, located on traditional homelands of the Paiute-Shoshone and Timbisha Shoshone and about one mile from California’s Death Valley National Park. In this next phase of destructive gold mining exploration, Canadian company K2 Gold, through its subsidiary Mojave Precious Metals, is proposing to build 2.6 miles of brand-new roads and 1.1 miles of overlanding routes to access 30 different drill sites and drill 120 holes on Conglomerate Mesa. The proposed project will require extensive land disturbance and use of heavy machinery. The total impact is estimated to be up to 15 acres, more than 60 times as much as K2 Gold’s previous exploration activities. The proposed project will significantly reduce public access to the area. K2’s proposal will require the closure, perhaps permanently, of many acres of pristine public lands currently open for recreational activities including hiking, backpacking, camping, hunting, bird watching, and OHV’ing. Further, the proposed drilling and road construction would permanently destroy cultural resources and traditional cultural use sites as well as threaten many plant and wildlife species. Additionally, the project will tax already over-committed area water supplies.

 

The public is encouraged to submit comments on the controversial project before the June 16 deadline. Comments can be submitted via the Bureau of Land Management’s website (click “participate now”).

 

“Allowing a large mining project to proceed here at Conglomerate Mesa will devastate the natural environment, including harm to wildlife and plant species, and further stress scarce water supplies in Inyo County. Further, the project will close much of the area to recreational access. The area sees many regular visitors who come to hike, hunt, watch birds and simply enjoy a wild place.” said Wendy Schneider, Executive Director, Friends of the Inyo. “The region’s cultural significance, beauty, and unique plants and wildlife are beloved by locals and visitors alike.”

 

There will be a public meeting regarding the proposal from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 10, 2025 at Statham Hall in Lone Pine, California, 138 N. Jackson St. Lone Pine, CA. Importantly, Friends of the Inyo will host a demonstration and poster making/letter writing event at their Lone Pine office located at 142 E. Bush St., Lone Pine, CA, (right across the street from Statham Hall) starting at 2:30 p.m.  on June 10, 2025.

 

Conglomerate Mesa comprises approximately 22,500 acres of public lands that are designated as California Desert National Conservation Lands and an Area of Critical Environmental Concern for their cultural significance, biodiversity, and recreation opportunities.

 

Conglomerate Mesa is used by tribes native to Payahuunadü/Owens Valley and Death Valley/Timbisha. The drill sites at Conglomerate Mesa are located among pinyon nut gathering sites, hunting grounds, mule deer migration routes, potential burial sites, and numerous Indigenous artifacts.

 

In addition to removing recreational public access to the area and negatively impacting recreational opportunities in Death Valley NP, the proposed project threatens rare desert plants including the Inyo rock daisy, and the Badger Flat threadplant – a species new to science. The Inyo rock daisy is local to the Inyo Mountains and found nowhere else in the world and the core of its distribution is centered on Conglomerate Mesa. Further, the project will negatively impact a thriving Joshua Tree forest that includes many infant and juvenile trees. The Mesa provides a climate refuge for the species at a time when they are predicted to disappear from Joshua Tree NP in the coming decades.

 

“The unparalleled uniqueness of Conglomerate Mesa makes it a stronghold for western Joshua trees as climate change advances,” said Ileene Anderson, senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Protecting Conglomerate Mesa will stem the current extinction crisis for Joshua trees and other plants and animals that call the Mesa home – it’s no place for a gold mine.”

 

Following exploration, K2 Gold aims to sell the rights to another company to develop an industrial-scale, cyanide heap leach gold mine in Conglomerate Mesa. Cyanide heap leach mining uses cyanide to extract gold from the earth and poses significant hazards to local residents, plants and animals. Further, cyanide leach mining is very water-intensive and uses hundreds of millions of gallons of water.

 

“Lone Pine’s public lands attract visitors from all around the county and the world, and that helps sustain our local economies,” said Michael Prather, a 40-year resident of Lone Pine and retired teacher. “At the same time, many boom and bust mining ventures throughout history brought little economic security in the long run as seen at Darwin, Keeler, Cerro Gordo and Panamint City. The landscape-scale destruction of open pit mining at Conglomerate Mesa is a direct threat to communities and economies throughout the greater Death Valley National Park area and is strongly opposed by many of us here in Inyo County.”

 

To submit a comment on the proposed project, please visit https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022050/510 and click “participate now.”

 

 

Background on the Conglomerate Mesa Coalition

The Conglomerate Mesa Coalition comprises a diverse group of organizations, tribal nations, and local businesses that support the immediate protection of Conglomerate Mesa for the land’s cultural, historical, conservation, and recreation values from extractive industries like mining. These entities also oppose all mining activities by K2 Gold on Conglomerate Mesa. For more information about the Conglomerate Mesa Coalition, click here.

 

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