What Is K2 Gold and MPM's Proposal? On July 30th the Ridgecrest Bureau of Land Management officially announced the opening of a public scoping comment period for a new phase of gold exploration at beloved National Conservation Land site, Conglomerate Mesa. The mining proponent, K2 Gold, a gold exploration company based in Vancouver, and their new subsidiary Mojave Precious Metals has submitted a proposal to the Ridgecrest BLM requesting 2.7 miles of new road construction and 1.06 miles of overlanding routes. In addition to this, the mining company is requesting to drill 30 different locations for a total of 120 drill holes. In total, this place proposes to impact roughly 12.2 acres of preserved public land. When compared to the helicopter drilling completed in 2020, which only permitted .2 acres of disturbance, this new proposal increases impacts 61 times over. Read the Bureau of Land Management's official Press Release here and Mojave Precious Metals' official project proposal here. MAKE PUBLIC SCOPING COMMENTS TODAY! Public scoping provides everyday citizens an opportunity to provide input on the future of Conglomerate Mesa and the mining proposal. That means YOU can make your voice heard for the landscape. Many plan to make comments advocating for the protection of Joshua trees and rare plants like the Inyo Badger Thread Plant or the Inyo Rock Daisy. Some comments will discuss the need to preserve the unique geology at Conglomerate Mesa. Ultimately, anything relating to the landscape and this gold mining proposal is fair to raise. Public scoping is also a great time to suggest different alternatives that the Ridgecrest BLM should consider in the upcoming environmental analysis. For example, while Friends of the Inyo will oppose the entirety of this project, we are going to recommend that the BLM strongly consider a helicopter access alternative that would better protect cultural resources, plant resources and drastically reduce the acres impacted. We suggest you do the same! Friends of the Inyo have developed materials to make public commenting easy for you. While we urge you to make comments in your own words, please use our documents as inspiration. For those who have been to the landscape or its surrounding areas, the more you can share personal testimony and connection to the land, the better! SUBMIT COMMENTS HERE ACCESS COMMENTING TIP SHEET HERE Does This Proposal Sound Familiar? If this project proposal sounds familiar, that's because it is. In 2017, SSR Mining proposed almost the exact same road construction plan. The Ridgecrest BLM issued a decision denying any road construction and overlanding routes and limited all exploration to helicopter access only. Many wonder if the Ridgecrest BLM will stay true to their recent Record of Decision and hold K2 Gold and Mojave Precious Metals to helicopter access only, which will protect Conglomerate Mesa from impacts it has never experienced before. K2 Gold Background --- K2's "Mojave Gold Project" --- K2s Western Property Plan --- K2 Gold Website --- Presentations | 
