Eastern Sierra communities battle massive gold mining project near Mammoth Lakes

Conservationists are sounding the alarm that an iconic piece of Eastern Sierra scenery could be devastated by an open-pit gold mine if a newly resubmitted project is approved outside the town of Mammoth Lakes. 

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Local advocacy groups said that changes made by the Trump administration to National Environmental Policy Act procedures recently opened the doors for Canadian mining company KORE Mining to put the plan back into motion, despite it being shot down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024. The calls for 24-hour, 365-day-per-year mining operations at the Hot Creek Geologic Site, a geothermal creek bed located in Inyo National Forest near Mammoth Lakes.

“What’s at risk here is an extremely ecologically sensitive area,” said Wendy Schneider, the executive director of local environmental nonprofit Friends of the Inyo. “Hot Creek is not only beautiful, it’s sort of the gateway to Mammoth Lakes. So you’d be able to see the mine when you get off the 395 and head into town. There will be noise and lights 24/7 and big trucks rumbling around, just messing up our public lands.” 

Friends of the Inyo was among several organizations that successfully appealed the project in 2024 on the basis that it violated NEPA procedures. With new reforms to the policy, KORE Mining was able to quietly resubmit its plans, according to Emily Markstein, the co-founder of the local campaign No Hot Creek Mine. 

The new NEPA regulations no longer require mining projects to employ a public comment period prior to approval, Markstein said. Locals learned that KORE had resubmitted its plans at a Mammoth Lakes town council meeting, when an official broke the news in a single sentence at the end of the session. 

“Because of all those changes, KORE saw an opportunity for reapplication,” Markstein said. “Because Trump said, ‘Drill, baby, drill.’” 

The U.S. Forest Service, which is the entity responsible for approving or denying KORE’s application, denies that the company’s Plan of Operation was resubmitted due to changed NEPA regulations. 

“They resubmitted their plan to demonstrate continued interest in proceeding with this project,” the agency’s Region 5 Press Desk told SFGATE via email. “We have accepted their plan and are conducting the appropriate NEPA steps now.”

The Forest Service noted that the revised NEPA regulations do, however, “provide line officers with discretion regarding whether, how, and when public comment is solicited.” The agency conducted “government-to-government consultation with local tribes” and plans to post the project’s NEPA decision on an online land management portal once a decision has been made. 

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In the meantime, groups like Friends of the Inyo and No Hot Creek Mine are grappling with how to battle the proposal in lieu of a traditional comment period. Schneider said that she is still encouraging the public to submit comments to the Forest Service, and Markstein suggested that Californians reach out to local Rep. Kevin Kiley, whose district includes Mammoth Lakes, with their concerns. Schneider added that further legal action is not out of the question. 

Both groups are also organizing events with local business owners in order to get the word out — particularly the fly fishing community, whose livelihoods would be especially threatened if the project were to move forward. 

“A lot of local fishing guides rely on Hot Creek for their income,” Markstein said. “Mammoth relies on a tourism-based economy, and we have so many anglers that come up here and rely on those pristine waters and that unique hydrology that allows for really amazing fly fishing.” 

Schneider said that despite these new and unfamiliar obstacles, she is optimistic that the project can be prevented. 

“These are public lands,” Schneider said. “They belong to everybody, and to the extent that that is not happening, that is not legal. So I am optimistic that even if the project gets approved, that it will eventually be stopped.” 

KORE Mining did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment before the time of publication.