KORE Mining revives Hot Creek gold drilling plan in Eastern Sierra

A Canadian firm, KORE Mining, has filed a new request to resume exploratory drilling near California’s Hot Creek, reviving a 2021 plan that covers 12 drill pads on roughly 1,848 acres of mineral claims in the Long Valley area【3】. The move reignites a legal and environmental battle that could affect the region’s prized trout fishery and the water supply for millions downstream.

Legal backdrop and community pushback

KORE Mining first sought permission to drill in 2020, receiving a USFS categorical exclusion in September 2021 that allowed year‑round, 24‑hour operations, including cyanide use near a historic fly‑fishing ranch【1】. A coalition of locals, the Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited and others sued, arguing the company tried to bypass environmental safeguards by filing two separate categorical exclusions—one for drilling and one for remediation. A 2024 court ruled that strategy illegal, temporarily halting the project【1】.

The Trump administration’s rollback of NEPA protections—cutting roughly 80 % of related regulations—opened a loophole that KORE exploited to resubmit its plan without a public comment period, prompting renewed outrage from residents like Emily Markstein, co‑founder of the No Hot Creek Mine coalition【1】. The group warns that the lack of transparency violates the principle that public lands should be managed with community input.

Environmental and economic stakes

Hot Creek feeds the Owens River, which supplies Crowley Lake and the California Aqueduct that delivers water to Los Angeles. Any cyanide leakage from heap‑leaching could jeopardize this critical water corridor, as well as the creek’s wild rainbow and brown trout populations that support a tourism economy worth “millions of dollars” annually, according to local guide Chris Leonard【1】.

The area also bears a legacy of mining contamination: a 2014 USFS inspection found arsenic, lead and mercury near the historic Mill City site, leading to cabin seizures and area closures that were only recently extended in May 2026【1】. Residents argue that reopening mining near Hot Creek risks repeating that environmental damage while delivering uncertain economic benefits to the foreign company rather than the local community.

What to watch

• USFS decision timeline – The Forest Service’s next action on KORE’s 2026 drilling request will signal whether the relaxed regulatory environment will permit the project to proceed.
• Legal challenges – Any new lawsuit filed by No Hot Creek Mine or allied groups could delay or block the proposal, especially if courts revisit the 2024 ruling on categorical exclusions.
• State water agency response – Statements from the California Department of Water Resources regarding potential impacts on the Owens River and downstream water users could influence public and political pressure on the project.

The renewed drilling proposal underscores a clash between mineral extraction ambitions and the protection of a fragile alpine ecosystem that supplies both recreation revenue and essential water resources. Whether regulatory reforms will tilt the balance toward mining or preserve Hot Creek remains an open question.