Forest ranger and residents press county on proposed Ivanhoe geophysical survey in Gila National Forest

Elizabeth Toney, introduced to the board as district ranger for the Eagle National Forest, told county leaders the Forest Service is reviewing a draft plan of operations submitted by Pinos Altos Exploration LLC and that the draft covers a geophysical survey only, not exploratory drilling or mining. "The plan is only for geophysical survey," Toney said, explaining the company’s draft would place probes in roughly 2.5‑by‑2.5‑foot pits connected to pulsed electromagnetic equipment to map subsurface minerals.

Toney said the draft as presented to her calls for operating six survey units at a time with pulses lasting about 15 minutes each and indicated the mapping could take on the order of months to complete. She told commissioners the agency is conducting cultural‑resource surveys, biological and rare‑plant assessments and watershed analyses before any decision. "Since the plan of operations is not finalized, I don't have a final map," she said, and emphasized the public's greatest opportunity to comment will come during the NEPA process when a proposed action is published for public review.

Residents, community leaders and technical experts used the board meeting's public‑comment period to press for answers and express opposition. "Water is my key issue," said Brett Myrick, a Grant County resident, who warned springs in local drainages have declined and urged scrutiny of potential water impacts. Eric Heather, who said he researched local claim records, told the board Pinos Altos Exploration had registered roughly 634 claims and warned that large‑scale mining and associated processing can demand substantial water and pose contamination risks. "We need a new hydrologic survey," Heather said, offering his documentation to the board.

Mary Hoffman, a Pinos Altos resident, framed the debate in cultural and fire‑risk terms, saying the community took more than a century to recover from historic mining scars and that renewed large‑scale operations could denude the landscape again. Technical commenter Malcolm Nordisk cautioned that electromagnetic survey and later processing technologies can have unintended subsurface effects and offered his expertise to the county.

Commissioners said they are sympathetic to local concerns but also noted that statutory mining rights can allow exploration on federal lands. One commissioner pointed to the General Mining Act of 1872 as the federal statutory framework that gives parties the ability to file notices and claims on lands open to mineral entry; Toney reiterated that mining‑claim administration is handled by the Bureau of Land Management and that the Forest Service's current role is limited to review of the plan of operations and NEPA compliance.

Toney provided preliminary numbers from the draft she is reviewing: about 72 pits across an estimated 21,000 acres of Forest Service land in the proposal's current footprint, with some withdrawal areas (campgrounds, signal sites) excluded. She said the proponent described placing an individual at each active pit during the 24‑hour pulsing period to monitor the pits and prevent issues with wires during operations, but repeated that those details are tentative and subject to change in the final plan and NEPA analysis.

Board members urged more research and legal review before the county takes policy action; several commissioners expressed support for local jobs and established mining employers while also saying they want to protect community resources. The Forest Service said it will make the NEPA public‑comment period available and will notify stakeholders and petitioners it has on file when a proposed action is released. "I will solicit to everyone that I can," Toney said of outreach plans.

Next steps: the Forest Service will continue technical studies (cultural, biological, hydrology) and determine the appropriate NEPA level; if and when a proposed action is published the public will have a formal comment opportunity and the county said it will track that process.