Gold Fever – 5 Exploratory Drilling Projects Now
There are now 5 gold exploration projects in the Eastern Sierra! Three are in the Bodie Hills at Bald Peak, Sawtooth Ridge behind the Aurora Cemetery, and at Spring Peak. Then there is one at Hot Creek outside of Mammoth Lakes and one at Conglomerate Mesa in the southern Inyo Mountains. These are all areas where ancient hot springs brought microscopic gold to the surface. The purpose of the drilling is to find where the gold came from. So where do they stand?
The three in the Bodie Hills are all in Nevada just across the CA-NV border:
Bald Peak—This one was on hold, but it recently changed hands from Radius Gold to Paramount Gold and they are picking up where Radius Gold left off back in 2019. The Forest Service started preparing an environmental assessment report in 2019 and we assume it will be released as the next step for this project following the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.
Dry Lakes Plateau with Beauty Peak on the right and sand-colored Bald Peak in the distance. Photo credit: L. Boulton
Sawtooth Ridge—This is a new exploration project proposed by Hecla Nevada behind the Aurora Cemetery. The scoping notice has not been posted to the Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest Service NEPA projects website yet. However, the comment period closed June 13. The Toiyabe Chapter submitted comments. This project will remove hundreds of pinyon trees to create 16 large drill pads and to reopen old roads to them. It is being proposed as a categorical exclusion—"a scope and go” project.
Sawtooth Ridge where Hecla will put in temporary roads and drill pads. Slope of Beauty Peak in distance on the left. Photo credit: L. Boulton
Spring Peak—This project was started in 2020 when OceanaGold made ready 5 of the planned 24 drill sites. However, they sold their claims to Headwater Gold who drilled at one of the sites made ready and prepped and drilled 4 more last summer. So, 4 of the prepped sites and the staging area haven’t been used yet. This project was approved as a categorical exclusion with a one-year timeframe. We think that year is up, although Headwater Gold may want to continue.
Spring Peak drill site in the middle of the photo with Mt. Hicks in the distance on the left. Photo Credit: L. Boulton
Hot Creek/Long Valley—This project was approved as a categorical exclusion last fall, but was not started before winter set in. A mitigation to protect the sage grouse in the area prevents any project activities from March 1-June 30. A lawsuit challenging the use of a categorical exclusion goes before a U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California judge on July 8.
Area of 9 of KORE Mining's drill sites. Photo Credit: L. Boulton
Conglomerate Mesa—K2 Gold had announced that they did not want to proceed with an environmental impact study (EIS) for Phase 2 of their Mojave Project. However, the new CEO of K2 Gold wants to go ahead with it and has notified the Bureau of Land Management. Phase 1 was called the Perdito Project and was completed in 2020. It involved drilling at 4 sites and bringing equipment and supplies in and out by helicopter. Phase 2 involves drilling at 30 locations, building “temporary” roads to them in a roadless area, and packing out the samples by pack animals. The EIS is not expected until 2023.
Conglomerate Mesa. Photo credit: L. Boulton