Hi Rlboyce, Thanks for your interest in our "Caves of Maryland" page. It's been a pleasure to get this information out there to people who enjoy using it. My apologies for not being able to get in contact with you any sooner. I have been on a brief hiatis since mid-January, taking care of work related matters, but am anxious to get back onto the scene. To be honest, a large portion of the information on the page pertaining to our western counties is based upon data gleemed from the MGS's surveys and a few helpful residents. The Tri-State Grotto may or may not have additional information, as it seems their activities have a focus on better-known caves rather than following up leads about Maryland's more obscure caves, such as Pinto.
The only solid data about the Pinto Mines caves is from 1966 when R.B. Schroder and Joe De Giovanni of Cumberland explored the main cave using scuba gear to navigate through the waters seperating the first two chambers in the mine. The final chamber was noted as being natural (not part of the mine), but was not fully explored.
I would be happy to help take a look sometime. Most of the fieldwork I know of being conducted right now is still in Washington Co, so it would be nice to come take a gander in Allegany Co.
Feel free to contact by email in the future: eckee@msn.com or IM me on AIM at Ecke EE.