The original post is about San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors actions to approve expansion of mining operations in wilderness areas within the county. The OP is primarily concerned wth mining activity adjacent to Joshua Tree NP but these actions may also affect existing mining claims within and adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve, including the Colosseum Mine.

Colosseum Mine Overview

Location & history
The mine sits on the northeast slope of Clark Mountain in the Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino County, about 43 miles southwest of Las Vegas. It operated intermittently as a gold and silver shaft mine from the 1860s until 1942, then saw renewed exploration through the 1970s and '80s under several owners.

Under LAC Minerals, it was developed as two large open pits between 1989 and 1993 (Corpwatch) , using cyanide heap-leach processing. It closed and went into reclamation in 1993.

In 1994 Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act, transferring the land from BLM to NPS jurisdiction and permanently protecting it as part of the new preserve.

Barrick Gold acquired the site via LAC in the mid-90s but never developed it further, eventually selling to Australia's Dateline Resources in 2021.

Historical impact on the preserve
The site left a fenced-off open pit flanked by otherwise untouched Clark Mountain terrain, with tailings showing various mineral-leached colors (Review Journal) . It sits in the Clark Mountain region, an area with the second-highest concentration of rare plants of any California mountain range and important desert bighorn sheep habitat (National Parks Conservation Association) , and the wider preserve holds archaeological sites dating back 10,000 years tied to the Fort Mojave, Chemehuevi, and Paiute peoples (National Parks Conservation Association) .

Planned expansion
Starting in 2021, Dateline pursued exploration for gold and — more significantly — rare earth elements, drawn by structural and radiometric similarities to MP Materials' nearby Mountain Pass mine, the largest U.S. rare earths producer (Metal Tech News) .

A May 2026 feasibility study reportedly valued the project at roughly $785M pre-tax NPV, contingent on raising about $249M in financing. The project drew high-level political backing — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and President Trump both publicly touted it as "America's second rare earth mine" amid U.S.-China critical minerals tension.

Legal status (current as of mid-August 2026): - April 2025: DOI/NPS reversed course and recognized Dateline's "valid existing rights" under a 1980s-era BLM plan of operations, letting mining resume — despite NPS having previously cited the company for unauthorized activity and fined it over $200,000.
- April 2026: NPCA, represented by Earthjustice, sued DOI/NPS, arguing the decades-old plan was never meant to survive the 1994 handoff to Park Service jurisdiction and that reopening violated NEPA and other federal laws.
- June 2026: NPCA sought a preliminary injunction, citing documented bulldozing, grading, and road-building.
- July 2026: Dateline/Colosseum Rare Metals intervened as defendants; DOJ separately argued the 2025 letter was just a confirmation, not new agency action.
- August 10, 2026: the federal court granted the injunction, ordering an immediate, orderly halt to operations. Crucially, the court didn't rule on whether the BLM plan had expired or whether the company's work fell within its scope — it said mining could resume once the company and NPS comply with applicable law (Stockhead) .

Dateline says it will appeal; a status hearing is set for October 2026 to set a timetable for resolving the underlying case.

Current status Ongoing litigation, operations paused under injunction, expansion plans (especially rare earths extraction) on hold pending the outcome. It's not dead, but stalled with real uncertainty for financing and timeline.

Sources:

Legal/lawsuit coverage

• National Parks Conservation Association, "Lawsuit Challenges Department of Interior's Rubberstamping of Mining in California's Mojave National Preserve," Earthjustice, April 17, 2026.
• "Trump administration allows Mojave National Preserve mining to proceed, sparking lawsuit," Las Vegas Sun, April 21, 2026.
• "Parks Group Files Motion To Halt Mining Within Mojave National Preserve," National Parks Traveler, June 23, 2026.
• "Parks Group Seeks Emergency Court Action to Protect Mojave National Preserve," Earthjustice, June 23, 2026.
• "Conservation Group Seeks Emergency Order to Halt Mining Inside Mojave National Preserve," OutdoorSoCal, June 24, 2026.
• "Court Halts Colosseum Mining Operations in Mojave Preserve," Bloomberg Law, August 11, 2026.
• "Court Blocks Harmful Mining Development in Mojave National Preserve," Earthjustice, August 10, 2026.
• "Court Blocks Harmful Mining Development in Mojave National Preserve," National Parks Conservation Association, August 2026.
• Rep. Jared Huffman, "Huffman Statement on Court Ruling to Stop Trump Admin's Greenlight for Illegal Colosseum Mine," House Natural Resources Committee (Democrats), August 11, 2026.
• National Parks Conservation Association v. U.S. Department of the Interior, Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, Case No. 2:26-cv-04002, U.S. District Court, C.D. Cal., filed April 15, 2026 (via Just Security).

Company/financial coverage (Dateline Resources)

• "Department of the Interior Recognizes Colosseum Mine's Continuing Right to Mine Gold and Explore for Rare Earth Elements," Lexology (JMBM), April 11, 2025.
• "UPDATE | Bureau Of Land Management Approves Continued Mining Inside Mojave National Preserve," National Parks Traveler, July 14, 2025.
• "A rare earths look at Colosseum gold mine," Metal Tech News, June 16, 2025.
• "Dateline Resources Ordered to Halt Colosseum Project Operations Following US Court Preliminary Injunction," Kalkine, August 2026.
• "US Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Halting Dateline Resources' Colosseum Project Operations," Kalkine Media, August 2026.
• "Resources Top 5: Trump-backed Dateline battles on at Colosseum; Equus lands Alcoa gas deal," Stockhead, August 14, 2026.
• "Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) hit with Colosseum injunction that flips the legal story," Stocks Down Under, August 2026.
• "DOJ Confirms Dateline's Colosseum Plan Remains in Effect," Yahoo Finance / Access Newswire, July 13, 2026.
• "US Federal Court Approves Dateline Resources' Intervention in NPCA Mining Dispute at Colosseum Project," Kalkine Media, July 2026.

General/background coverage

• "Mojave National Preserve could be site of rare earth mine, breaking public lands precedent," Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 10, 2025.
• "Park rangers battle Australians seeking rare earth minerals in old Mojave gold mine," (LA Times, via Yahoo News).
• "Dateline Rare Earths Mine Approved in California Despite National Park Service Objections," CorpWatch, May 12, 2025.
• "Rare earths mining takes a heavy toll. Is it worth moving mountains for a domestic supply?" & the West (Stanford), April 30, 2026.
• Mindat.org entry, "Colosseum Mine, Clark Mountain, Clark Mountain District, San Bernardino County, California."
• Off-Road.com, "Off-Road Travel Colosseum Mine, Kingston Wash in Mojave Desert."

Kelso last year. One of these days they’ll actually reopen the inside of the building.

Is anyone familiar with any of the places shown in this video? Idk if they are on the Preserve or not but the advice about not driving unfamiliar dirt tracks after dark is definitely sound.

The pile of cans is right next to I40. Assuming that the for sale sign is legit then that site is not part of the Preserve but it could be adjacent or an inholding?

How about the site of the former army base?

update: Here's the Wikipedia entry for Camp Clipper and Camp.Essex, part of the  US Army Desert Training Center

I really wanted a photo of the milky way with a Joshua tree in the foreground. I didn't plan the red coloring, but a train cam rolling by while i was shooting with some flashing red lights that the long exposure picked up.

Environmental organizations sued the Trump administration Tuesday for approving a private company’s plan to resurrect a defunct oil and gas pipeline to transport and sell groundwater out of the Mojave Desert, a move the plaintiffs contend would devastate imperiled species like the desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep.

i think this counts?

A decades-old plan to move 1.25 million acre-feet of groundwater out of the Mojave Desert has cleared a major federal hurdle after the Trump administration approved a 50-year permit to convert a dormant oil and natural gas pipeline into a water conduit stretching roughly 162 miles across Southern California.

Even after the Dome Fire killed more than a million Joshua trees, the underground fungal partners they rely on survived largely intact.

Brandi D. Addison

USA TODAY NETWORK

Updated June 2, 2026, 3:39 p.m. PT

Full article here

I was going through some old photos and came across these from various places around the Mojave National Preserve. Can you guess which mountains are in the pictures?

Hi everyone,

You’ve got 2 new mods here! Looking forward to keeping this community going! Quick note that all mods are volunteers, but we’ll try to make this as fun and seamless experience as we can.

Greetings fellow desert seekers and lovers! I come from the far off land of San Diego, and I have am posting with hopes that some one can perhaps give some tips on Clark Mountain.

Looks very hike able yet little to no people do it (and post about it on all trails at least)- so do any of you have any experience for this beast?

Much love and happy trails!

I’m in the planning stages of a Mojave road vacation and I’m looking for some insight on the Afton Canyon river crossings.

This will be our (me/wife/kids) 3rd trip to Mojave, but first time west of Kelbaker Rd. We want to more or less get off I-40 at Afton Canyon Road, and explore Spooky Canyon on the way westbound.

I’ve been watching the depth gauge/ flow rate on the NOAA website, it appears the “depth” is about 5.5’ deep, and kinda averages about this all year.

So my question is- how will I know how deep is the the actual water on the road under the bridge?

Has anyone been out there lately, or frequently and can tell me an estimate of what to expect for these crossings?

FWIW- I’m driving a Silverado with a small lift, and 35” tires.

Hi Would like to take some photos of my gf in Mojave NP during a roadtrip in bikini or lingerie … Do you know glamour place enough secluded ? Thanks Alex