By Lynn Boulton

There are five different gold exploration companies planning to drill in the Eastern Sierra. There are three in the Bodie Hills that can start any time after July 15: Bald Peak (helicopter access to the Dry Lakes Plateau), Sawtooth Ridge (behind the Aurora Cemetery), and Spring Peak (behind Cedar Hill at the northeast end of Mono Lake).

The wildflowers at Spring Peak were wonderful: purple milkvetches, white phloxes, scarlet paintbrushes, and all sorts of yellow flowers. There is a hillside that came alive with flowers and color for the first time since the 2013 wildfire. But sadly, there was a claim stake in the middle of it. Headwater Gold is filing more claims and expanding their project area.

It looks like there will be more of this:

If you see any supplies and equipment at the power line turnoff of Highway 167 besides the big blue water tank, please let us know. It means they are drilling at Spring Peak. If you see or hear any helicopters in Fletcher Valley (East Fork of the Walker River) or at the Dry Lakes Plateau, please let us know. It means they are drilling at Bald Peak.

A fourth exploratory drilling project is near Hot Creek. KORE Mining has agreed not to start work until September 1, after an appeal hearing that has been set for August 25. The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watershed Projects, and Friends of the Inyo have sued the Forest Service for approving this project as a categorical exclusion. A judge decided in favor of the Forest Service and then we appealed that decision. A decision on the appeal will come some unknown time after the hearing. KORE Mining can drill without waiting for the decision on the appeal.

The fifth gold exploration project is at Conglomerate Mesa. A draft Environmental Impact Statement for K2 Gold's Phase II exploratory drilling project is expected soon. We will need your comments when it is released!  Conglomerate Mesa was so green and alive this June with birds, butterflies, snakes, lizards, many, many flowers in bloom, and thousands of grasshoppers!! Scroll through our photos and see for yourself!