Jenny Ferranti, who recently won the Grant County Commission District 1 seat on the Democratic ticket, made speaking out against mining in and around the tiny community of Pinos Altos a pillar of her campaign. She spoke with KRWG's Susan Morée about how the community responded when mining tried to come to the historic ghost town with a population of 300.
Susan Morée:
Jenny, there were a couple of different mining companies that have shown some interest in possibly exploring for mining prospects in the Gila National Forest right around Pinos Altos, but they seem to have pulled back from making such an effort. Can you talk about the community's push back on any sort of mining exploration in that area?
Jenny Ferranti:
Yes, of course. So what I think is really amazing about Grant County is we are very well informed. And so the people of PA, they found out that there were some prospects thinking about mining in Pinos Altos. They immediately got on the horn with one another. It's a small community. Once they did that, the next thing you know, there was a commissioner's meeting and every, the majority, we'll say a big majority were at the commissioner's meeting to speak on their concerns with it, with mining PA or any exploratory mining within PA. And it was at that time that people really, really dug deep, looked into it, and, you know, noticed that there is over 5,000 claims in the Gila. None of them, you know, are really, you know, active or anything like that, but there are over still 5,000 claims within the Gila in that general area.
Susan Morée:
And there already is mining in Grant County, not all that far away from Pinos Altos and Silver City. You can even see the mine from Silver City. Is the community itself opposed to mining in general or?
Jenny Ferranti:
No, absolutely not. You know, me for one, I'm a huge supporter of Freeport and mining in Grant County. However, this is much, much different. And you know, what I can say, you know, Freeport is much different than Pinos Altos, that's huge. You know, Pinos Altos is an area that has a lot of culture. It's rich in history. You know, it is a beautiful town up in the mountains, you know, and that means a lot to Grant County. It has always meant a lot to Grant County and there, you know, there's no reason to mine there. There's so many endangered species. You know, we have all the different wildlife up there. The thing is, we have room for one mine, and that is Freeport. One mine is enough for Grant County. We're good there. That's pretty much, I think, the consensus of, you know, the community itself.
Susan Morée:
You've already mentioned a little bit about the specialness of Pinos Altos,, but can you talk about that a little bit more? How close is it to the National Forest?
Jenny Ferranti:
It borders the National Forest. So if you look at Pinos Altos, you know, you look at the name, Pinos Altos, you know, High Pines. So it's right there, it borders there. You have, you know, Lake Roberts in that area. You have, you have Ben Lily [Memorial], you have Cherry Creek, you know, you have all those different, all those different elements that are there. It is surrounded by forest. Everywhere you turn, there's those big, beautiful pine trees. So, for it to be disrupted in any way, shape, or form, would have been catastrophic, especially for the community that takes such good care of the wildlife, takes such good care of the forest that they surround, it would have been horrible.
Susan Morée:
And Pinos Altos to me feels a little bit like a ghost town, except there are some businesses there.
Jenny Ferranti:
Yeah, of course. You have, you know, the Buckhorn Saloon, which has been there for, you know, as long as I can remember. And I'm going on 45 years old. So, I mean, you have the volunteer fire department that's there. You have a very active community. There's a museum there. There's a rich history there. When you look at the different buildings, there is a beautiful church there. You know, there's a Catholic church there, the Catholic cemetery that's right next to it. You also have, there is an opera house that's there as well. So yes, it's small. You think of ghost town, you think of different things. But when you look at it as a whole, you see the community, you see the heritage, the history, the rich history, very rich in history. I mean, to disturb that in any way, shape or form is to disrespect our history. And we wouldn't want to do that.
Susan Morée:
Okay. Well, thank you so much, Jenny. I really appreciate your taking this time to talk to me.
Jenny Ferranti:
Yes, of course. Thank you. Have a good day.
Editor's note: The company that pulled back from exploring in the Pinos Altos area, Ivanhoe, told the Silver City Daily Press that it was not going to further explore due to “marginal prospectivity for a high‑quality porphyry copper system in the Pinos Altos area.”
