Mining standoff in the Mojave

Wilcox looking out over Clark Mountain. Ecologists say the range has the second-highest concentration of rare plants of any range in California. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

DEEP in the Mojave National Preserve, the Colosseum Mine, once a bustling hub for gold and silver extraction, is at the centre of a growing controversy.

Mining operations, dormant since the 1990s, have resumed – but now the sought-after prize is rare earth minerals, crucial for modern technology.