Politicians Want BLM To Block Mining Inside Mojave National Preserve

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has been urged by Congressional Democrats from California and New Mexico to halt an illegal mine inside Mojave National Preserve.

Back in April an Australian company with rights to a mine within the preserve in California received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to resume operations, although it's been accused of illegally mining there for some time.

Documents between the National Park Service and the mining company's legal representative obtained by the National Parks Conservation Association and reviewed by the Traveler outline a difference of opinion over whether Colosseum (Colosseum Rare Metals, Mine Water, and Oretest, aka Dateline Resources Limited, or CRM) had a Park Service-approved operations plan. While the company's attorneys maintained that the Park Service in 1995 "recognized as valid" an operational plan for the site that the company's predecessor had obtained from the BLM in the 1980s, the Park Service position as outlined in a June 2023 letter maintained that the 1995 decision was a temporary approval for continued reclamation work and tailings pond water treatment and monitoring.

"Contrary to your statements, the NPS did not 'recognize' or 'acknowledge' that the BLM-approved plan of operations would be 'valid' into perpetuity in Mojave National Preserve, that it would cover all types of operations in addition to reclamation and tailings pond water treatment, or that it would allow future mining operators at the Colosseum Mine Site, such as CRM, to ignore NPS laws and regulations," William Shott, the acting Pacific West regional director wrote, to the attorneys. "Indeed, the NPS would have lacked the authority to make such a sweeping exemption from federal law and regulations."

That letter also directed the company to halt operations and remove its equipment from the preserve until it receives NPS approval for its operational plans, and added that a "demand letter" to cover unspecified damages to the preserve would be forthcoming.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the Senate ENR Committee, this week expressed serious concern over the BLM's approval of mining activities by Dateline Resources and demanded they rescind their approval.

In their letter to Burgum, the lawmakers also called on Interior "to comply with federal mining law, conduct a full mineral validity exam, reaffirm the National Park Service’s authority over mining operations in the preserve, and explain their legal rationale for permitting Dateline Resources mining activity."

“This action appears to violate federal law, disregards National Park Service authority, and sets a dangerous precedent for industrial development in lands that Congress has designated as worthy of inclusion in the National Park System," the letter read. 

"The California Desert Protection Act clearly states that any mining within the Mojave Preserve must comply with the Mining in the Parks Act, which requires a mineral validity examination and an NPS-approved plan of operations," the politicians wrote. "However, it appears that BLM is attempting to circumvent this law and instead authorize Dateline’s project based on a 1985 plan originally approved by BLM for different minerals, under different ownership, and issued before the preserve existed."

Congress created the Mojave National Preserve in 1994 through the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s California Desert Protection Act (CDPA), which transferred the land from BLM to NPS, helping support rare plant species and vital wildlife corridors.

In April when BLM approved the mine operations, it said that, "[T]he resumption of mining at Colosseum Mine, America’s second rare earth elements mine, supports efforts to bolster America’s capacity to produce the critical materials needed to manufacture the technologies to power our future. For too long, the United States has depended on foreign adversaries like China for rare earth elements for technologies that are vital to our national security. By recognizing the mine’s continued right to extract and explore rare earth elements, Interior continues to support industries that boost the nation’s economy and protect national security." 

In their letter the lawmakers also criticized Burgum for not protecting national parks. 

“This is not only illegal, but it directly contradicts a commitment you made during your confirmation hearing to ‘protect every inch of our national parks,’" they wrote. "Approving a foreign-owned company’s speculative mining project inside a national park in this way is clearly inconsistent with that promise and threatens future speculative actions across other national parks."