MINING IN THE MOJAVE

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MININGIN THEMOJAVE
MINING IN THE MOJAVE
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NPS MINING OVERVIEW

• 2,500 Mining Claims in the National Park System
  (Patented and Unpatented)
• 1,400 Located in the Mojave National Preserve
• 9 Active Hardrock Mining Operations in NPS
• 5 Located in the MNP

s as of 1998
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What is Mined?
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G O L D
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• SILVER

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And Others

• Malachite
• Bastnasite
• Cinders
• Borax (North of the Preserve)

• Copper
• Tungston
• Azurite
• Flourite

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A.D. 400 Turquoise Mining North of Turquoise
Mountain and East of Nipton.1860s Early
Mining in the Clark Mountains.1861 First
Mineral Discoveries in New York
Mountains.1883-1887 Bonanza Mine Averages
60,000 a Month in Siver.1890s Gold
Discovered in the Rand Mountains.
Mining Timeline (Part 1)
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(Part 1) Continued
1894 Mining Began in Soledad Mountains. 1907
Gold Discovered in Hart. 1949 Mountain Pass
Bastnasite Deposits Discovered. 1970s Kelso
Dunes Explored for Commercial Mining. 1994
Mojave National Preserve Created Under the
California Desert Protection Act.
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Mining Guidelines of the Preserve

• Staking New Mining Claims is Forbidden.
• Surviving Claims Survive the Transfer to Park
  Service Jurisdiction.
• Mine Owners Must Contend With Park Service
  Mining Regulations (Stricter than Those of Other
  Public Land Agencies.

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Patented/Unpatented
Patented Land Land fully owned by an individual
or corporation with full rights to excavate and
sell. Unpatented Land Abandoned claims, now
part of the preserve. No further mining is
allowed.
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Partially Patented

• If only some claims are valid, the CDPA of 1994
  requires that only a partial patent be awarded.
• This conveys only sub-surface minerals, not
  ownership of surface lands.

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Environmental Concerns

• Loss of Habitat for the Threatened Desert
  Tortoise
• Scenic Degradation
• -Abandoned Mines
• -Abandoned Access Roads
• Toxic Spills (Ex. Molycorp Moun. Pass)

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Last Active Mine in the Mojave Recently Closed
(Cima Cinder Mine). Still acquiring lands and
mining claims that pose continuing development
threats to the preserve.Abandoned Mineral
Lands Reclamation Program in Operation -
Closes 10-100 Mine Openings per year. - Plugs 5
Oil Gas Wells per year.
Current Status
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-www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/1999/05/052199/mine_
3327.asp-www.wilderness.org/newsroom/15most_1999
/mojave.htm-www.faultline.org/news/2001/09/cimam
ing.html-www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press
/cima9-20-01.html-www.endangeredearth.org/alerts
/result-m.asp?index1045-www.desertusa.com/mag99
/may/stories/rands.html-www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn
.Article?article_id4377
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