Welcome to Volume 1 of the Conglomerate Mesa Newsletter, your one-stop email for all things Conglomerate Mesa. I'm Bryan Hatchell, your newsletter author and the Desert Lands Organizer at Friends of the Inyo. This newsletter and the ones to follow will provide readers with pertinent news on the Conglomerate Mesa Protection Campaign, updates on Conglomerate Mesa Events & Outings, and the Site Highlights of Conglomerate Mesa. As always, please reach out to me with any and all questions you may have at bryan@friendsoftheinyo.org Thank you for tuning in. | | | |
Conglomerate Mesa: A Decision on the State Director's Review Conglomerate Mesa is under threat of an open pit cyanide gold mine. Most recently, the BLM approved an environmental assessment allowing exploratory drilling via helicopter access on Conglomerate Mesa to determine the sites gold prospects. Due to a number of inadequacies in the project and EA, Friends of the Inyo and the Conglomerate Mesa Coalition filed for a review of the project by the California BLM State Director in November of 2018. While we were initially supposed to hear a decision in 3 months, the BLM was delayed by the government shutdown. As of May 13th, we finally have an answer. The State Director has determined that the Perdito Project will stand and exploratory drilling can move forward. The claimholders are still without a mining company to lease their claims to, but we suspect they will attempt to find another. If this happens, exploratory drilling can begin at a moments notice. Friends of the Inyo will continue to apply pressure to assure any company that considers joining this project that they will have a fight on their hands. We must stay unified, organized, and vocal to continue to drive companies away from this project as we search for permanent protection of Conglomerate Mesa. | |
