Two Ninth Circuit stay motions target Colosseum injunction

Ninth Circuit asked to clear path for Colosseum work

Dateline Resources Limited (ASX:DTR) and the US Government have taken the Colosseum dispute to the next stage, lodging separate motions with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stay a preliminary injunction pending appeal. If granted, the stay would allow work at the California project to resume while the substantive appeal is heard. The filing does not say that the injunction has been lifted, nor does it provide a timetable for the panel’s decision.

The applications follow a decision in the California District Court last Friday and will now be considered afresh by a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel. Dateline’s previous October stay decision had left Colosseum operations and rare earth drilling suspended under the preliminary injunction, with the stay decision reserved after an October 26 hearing.

Four factors underpin the stay applications

Both motions address the factors the appeals court is required to weigh: the merits of the appeal, the harm caused by continuing the injunction, the limited impact of resuming work and the national interest. Dateline says each factor favours a stay, but the announcement does not disclose the court’s assessment or quantify the operational or financial cost of the ongoing restriction.

The US Government’s involvement adds weight to the procedural alignment between the project owner and federal authorities. Earlier, the government had backed a stay application citing the project’s economic and national security interests in relation to rare earth supply, while the current filing says only that both parties have now lodged motions with the Ninth Circuit.

Dateline continues to defend its 1985 operating plan

Dateline’s position remains that the Plan of Operations approved by the Bureau of Land Management in 1985 is a valid existing right that survived the creation of the Mojave National Preserve. The company says that position was recognised by the National Park Service in 1995, 2024 and again in April 2025. Those assertions are central to the legal dispute, but the filing reports no ruling on the underlying appeal.

That leaves Colosseum’s near-term status dependent on two separate questions: whether the Ninth Circuit grants interim relief, and how the broader appeal ultimately resolves the validity of the operating plan. The project’s May 2026 bankable feasibility study outlined a proposed 10.4-year gold mine targeting 573,000 ounces, making the injunction more than a legal inconvenience, but the announcement gives no revised development or funding timetable while the court process continues.