An Australian mining company has sparked outrage among environmentalists with plans to explore for rare earth elements on land adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park in California. Dateline Resources Ltd has staked claims covering approximately 32 square miles of desert in the Pinto mountains, just outside the park boundary.
Conservationists warn that the project threatens the fragile ecosystem and the endangered Mojave desert tortoise, whose critical habitat overlaps with the mining claims. Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity called it 'hard to think of a worse place for a massive industrial project'.
The company is seeking heavy rare earth elements (HREEs), essential for high-tech products from smartphones to missile guidance systems. With China dominating global supply, there is bipartisan U.S. interest in developing domestic sources. However, critics argue that this site is too sensitive.
U.S. Representative Jared Huffman raised concerns about Dateline's track record, saying the proposal 'has red flags waving in every way'. The project is still in exploration, with early samples showing promising concentrations of yttrium, lanthanum, and neodymium, but no technical report has been released.
Joshua Tree National Park attracts around three million visitors annually. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designates the area as critical habitat for the desert tortoise. Dateline did not respond to requests for comment.
