Feds approve mine drilling in Amargosa critical environmental area

Lower Carson Slough, looking toward Eagle Mountain (Photo: the Amargosa Conservancy)

Federal land managers approved a plan Friday to drill dozens of boreholes near a critical wetland habitat in Nevada that supports a trove of endangered and threatened species found nowhere else in the world.

The mining exploration project proposed by St. Cloud Mining Company will drill 43 boreholes on public lands just west of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in search of mineral zeolite – a clay-like material used in water filtration, odor control, and soil conditioner. 

In a press release announcing the approval, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said the project was in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order to boost domestic mineral production and reduce U.S. reliance on foreign minerals.

Drilling operations would take place within an area of critical environmental concern in the southern portion of the Amargosa Desert about 20 miles north of the Amargosa River headwaters, the only free-flowing river in the region. 

The drill site is also three miles west of Carson Slough, a groundwater dependent habitat home to one of the largest populations of the critically endangered plant Amargosa niterwort.

Under the proposed plan, the mining company will drill dozens of boreholes up to 200 feet deep across less than one acre of public land adjacent to the company’s existing mine located about one mile south of the Nevada state line in Inyo, California.

The exploratory project will be limited to drilling activities to “identify the location, quality, and quantity of a potential mineral zeolite deposit in the area and determine its suitability for further development.”

Despite the proposed project’s location in the “Amargosa North Area of Critical Environmental Concern” federal land managers said the project posed “no significant impact,” meaning it did not require a more in-depth environmental analysis before being approved. 

However, federal hydrologists did highlight “major uncertainty” surrounding the hydrology of the proposed drill site and its proximity to major springs and groundwater dependent habitats. 

The agency acknowledged that groundwater at the site of the proposed project was relatively shallow, making it likely that boreholes drilled beyond 100 feet would hit groundwater in the area. 

Hitting an aquifer in the region could potentially damage groundwater dependent springs if large volumes of that groundwater burst above ground due to high pressure, creating an uncontrolled water flow that can be difficult or even impossible to stop.

Still, federal hydrologists maintained it was unlikely the project would hit a pressurized water zone, adding that the risk of creating an uncontrolled water flow was low. 

The BLM also acknowledged that groundwater connectivity for the area is not well understood, and it was possible the proposed project could affect groundwater downstream from the Amargosa River if drilling reached groundwater and was left unplugged.

Exploratory drilling operations will require somewhere between 20,000 – 40,000 gallons of water for the project. According to the operation plan, the water used will be trucked in from either Longstreet Inn in Amargosa Valley or Wolfenstein Construction in Pahrump.

Conservation groups quickly criticized the project’s approval and the BLM’s decision not to complete a more in-depth environmental analysis on the project.

“Trump’s decision to approve drilling for mining on the doorstep of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is an insult to all of us who love this special desert wetland,” said Patrick Donnelly, the Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity and an 11-year resident of the area.

Donnelly questioned the strategic importance of mineral zeolite as a means to significantly reduce U.S. reliance on foreign minerals, noting that the material is commonly used in commercial cat litter due to its odor control properties.

“This kitty litter mine is a ridiculous waste of our public land resources, especially when there are ecologically safer alternatives. We can preserve biodiversity and vulnerable communities while still caring for our feline friends. This mine is not the answer,” Donnelly said.

The St. Cloud Mining Company did not respond to requests for comment about the exploratory project.

The Center for Biological Diversity pointed to the project’s proximity to Carson Slough and the endangered Amargosa niterwort in its opposition to the project.

The BLM noted that none of the proposed boreholes were in the Carson Slough, but acknowledged that any future drilling in that region would be at risk of hitting a pressurized water zone leading to uncontrolled groundwater flow. 

“If drilling in this area is contemplated in the future, special precautions should be followed to avoid a situation involving a borehole or well from which groundwater discharge becomes uncontrollable,” said the BLM in their decision.

Mining interest has grown in the Amargosa Desert in recent years. In 2023, Canada-based Rover Minerals proposed drilling up to 30 exploratory lithium boreholes just north of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, some within 2,000 feet of Fairbanks Spring, a critical habitat for the endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish.

The BLM initially approved the Rover Minerals exploratory lithium project before retracting their approval after a review found the project would likely cause damage to the groundwater that feeds the meadows, and potentially harm threatened and endangered species who rely on the refuge.

Mason Voehl, the campaigns director at the Amargosa Conservancy, led efforts to challenge the lithium project’s approval, joining a lawsuit against the project with the Center for Biodiversity. 

Rover Minerals exploratory drilling project attracted fierce opposition from locals who feared it would impact groundwater. Both conservation groups vowed to oppose the St. Cloud Mining Company project, as they did with the Rover Minerals project. 

“Over the past few years, the communities of the Amargosa Basin could not have made themselves any clearer: we will not abide by any predatory extraction projects that threaten the safety of Ash Meadows in the name of profit,” Voehl said in a statement. “Ash Meadows is an irreplaceable haven for biodiversity, a living sacred landscape for Tribes, and the beating heart of the watershed. We demand our land managers to do the right thing and deny any project that poses potential impacts to groundwater: the lifeblood of the Amargosa Basin.”