It’s a fight to the finish for a rare daisy and a gold mine near Death Valley. Maria Jesus, a botanist with the California Native Plant Society, examines an Inyo rock daisy with a magnifying glass.

Rare Daisy Near California Gold Mine Becomes Dubious Symbol for Future of Its Threatened Habitat. Getty Stock Images . By (61264) First Published: 6:35 AM PST, March 11, 2022.

It lives on ancient carbonate bedrock that possibly holds submicroscopic gold, and a large-scale gold mining project is proposed in one of the few places the wildflowers live, Conglomerate Mesa.