What does that have to do with Inyo County Planning board and the State Water Resources Control Board which directed me to the same source for information, California Environmental Quality Act and the requirement that an Environmental Impact Report be done before permits can be issued?
Following your logic, since a permit had been issued to Timberline in 2008 for the same property, it stands to reason that the EIR has already been done. I am by no means an expert on gold mining or the steps that lead up to full production, but it would seem that SUGO faces a few less hurdles than other startups because of what Timberline started.