Forest Service Seeking Comment on Gold Mine in Idaho Wilderness

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is taking public comments on its approval of a gold mining company's plan to reopen a road in a central Idaho wilderness and drill core samples to find out if its claims are profitable enough to be mined.

Comments are being taken through Feb. 23 on American Independence Mines and Minerals Co.'s plan in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Federal authorities require claim holders to prove claims are profitable before mining starts.

The 45-page Draft Record of Decision filed Friday and first reported by the Idaho Statesman notes that the company already has three claims validated as profitable in the Payette National Forest. The Forest Service says mining is allowed in the wilderness because of negotiations leading up to the wilderness designation.