The Bureau of Land Management has decided that a
cyanide heap-leach gold mine in California near Yuma, Ariz., can’t
get under way for at least two years. The moratorium was hailed as
a victory by opponents of Glamis Imperial Corp., who say the mine
would ravage the habitat of threatened desert tortoises and
infringe on a sacred Native American site.
The
draft environmental impact statement issued before the moratorium
says the proposed mine would “significantly impact” the more than
200 examples of rock geoglyphs in the area. “When you scratch the
surface of geoglyphs (petroglyphs on the ground), it’s like
breaking glass in a church,” says Lorey Cachora of the Quechan
tribe’s cultural committee. Glamis Corp. officials say they’re not
going away. “The tribe has been really successful developing
agricultural areas and casinos on sacred land,” says Glamis vice
president Steve Bauman. “We’re working diligently with them to
ensure we give similar protection to artifacts.”
BLM spokesman Glen Miller says the agency will
study the cultural resources and complete a final EIS by late
summer. Contact Miller at 1661 S. 4th St., El Centro, CA 92243
(760/337-4400), the Quechan Cultural Committee at 760/572-0213 or
the San Diego office of the Sierra Club at 619/299-1746 to find out
more.
* Taffeta Elliott and Juniper
Davis
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Weighing artifacts against gold.
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