Golden opportunity

Along the crest of the Bagby Grade, bright stadium lights illuminate a three-story drilling rig on the site of the legendary and long dormant Fremont Gold Mine.

During the 24-hour overnight operation last weekend, a low-pitched rumble drifted down the canyon, the sound of crushing granite and quartz. The echoes of 175 years of history.

Mariposa County’s second gold rush may have officially begun.

Last week the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors gave their enthusiastic and unanimous approval to a sweeping economic development strategy that makes mining the centerpiece of an economic recovery plan.

The goal, county officials said, was to ween the county from its dependence on the fickle fluctuations of tourism and a lodging tax.

“That’s like having an eight cylinder engine and running on one cylinder,” said Mariposa County Development Services Director Greg Thompson.

The strategy Thompson outlined includes an eight-pillar economic portfolio that includes mining, agriculture and ag tourism, industry and manufacturing, tourism/lodging/recreation, events/film/arts/culture, education, retail, forest and energy.

But with gold at $4,600 an ounce, it is mining that is teed up for development.

Three Canadian companies involved

Three Canadian based companies — Lode Gold, Mariposa Gold and Blue Moon Metals — are already engaged in active exploration in Mariposa County. None of the companies have been granted a permit to begin mining, which isn’t anticipated for another two to five years.

Lode Gold is developing the historic Fremont Gold Mine near Bear Valley. The drilling last weekend along Bagby Grade was to obtain core samples for metallurgical testing.

The company estimates more than $8 billion in gold remains on its 3,000 acres of privately owned land, which includes some of the most famous veins of the southern Mother Lode gold belt.

Wendy Chan, CEO of Lode Gold Resources, told the Mariposa Gazette in a phone interview she was thrilled to see the supervisors taking a long-term, strategic outlook.

It sends a message to potential investors, she said.

“Pro development people may think something is never going to happen. That’s the perception. It’s important to see that Mariposa is open for business and economic development,” Chan said.

Supervisor Shannon Poe, who has a gold mining claim near Greeley Hill, said the mining projects currently proposed are “very environmentally friendly.”

“It doesn’t involve any chemicals and the ore is being shipped out of state,” he said. “It doesn’t even leave a scar.”

“We have billions of dollars in the ground. We can encourage this development and take Mariposa from one of the most economically strained counties in the other direction,” Poe said.

A ‘Mining Playbook’

The county is developing a “Mining Playbook” that includes potential revenue channels for the county, and modernizing the mining and planning codes.

The last county ordinance for mining was in 1998.

Updating the mining code will be an opportunity to start regulating a number of smaller mining claims that are operating without permits and are not currently being tracked.

Corrina Miranda, the county’s interim building director, has become the designated point person for mining and is regularly meeting with the major players. She believes planning is key before decisions become urgent.

“Growth does not mean we lose our rural identity,” Miranda said.

Miranda said it was important to develop a full cost-recovery structure, so that incidental costs the county may incur — like road maintenance and infrastructure improvements — are recouped.

The promise is that mining could create hundreds of year-round, high-wage jobs and spark long-term investment.

The combined mining operations could eventually increase the population by 700 to 1,500 people, county planners estimate.

“It’s not just jobs for miners, but everyone who comes with them,” Miranda said.

Infrastructure to scale

Mariposa County will have some infrastructure challenges once the mines are operational.

County officials must develop a framework for scaling an assortment of services from roads, water systems, environmental review, fire and emergency response.

Housing will be the first big task.

The county estimates an additional 250 to 500 housing units will be needed.

What that workforce housing will look like and where it will be located remains to be seen.

In 2025 there were only 22 new housing permits.

Mariposa County currently has 9,938 housing units, and short term rentals account for about 10 percent of the housing stock.

The county is already anticipating concerns that current residents will be displaced or priced out.

The county acknowledges it is easy to forget that the glory days of the California Gold Rush came with considerable collateral damage to indigenous people and the environment.

“The strategic plan should avoid both nostalgia and reflexive opposition,” according to a county presentation.

“Mining decisions should protect water, culture, safety, fiscal stability and post-mine land use from the first day of planning,” the document says.

“We don’t want to be left with ghost towns,” Miranda told the board.

The past as prelude

For the better part of three decades the local economy has been running in place, held back by some difficult demographics.

The county’s population remains stubbornly stuck at 17,000 with a median household income of $68,412. More than 15 percent of the county is living below the poverty line. Nearly one-third of the population is over the age of 65.

A second gold rush could offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Mariposa County Administrative Officer Joe Lynch said for too long, tourism has been treated as a kind of “passive income.”

“We didn’t charge a lot, we didn’t ask a lot,” he said.

Thompson, the development services director, promised “true stakeholder involvement,” with the motto, “economic development is not just a person, its a culture.”

Mottoes and wishes aside, if the exploratory drilling on Bagby Grade is any indication, the future has already arrived.

The development and planning department will return to the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors in 90 days with the roll out of a formal project charter.

It is expected the companies will begin submitting application to begin mining in two years.

The planning starts now.