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Death Valley National Park
Ibex Spring
The original Ibex Mine was opened in the 1880s, and ran for a few years. A very brief niter rush swamped the south valley with prospectors in 1902, and a more prolonged rush occurred during the Bullfrog boom years. This latter rush saw the brief exploitation of several mines in the Ibex Hills, and an ill-conceived attempt by gold-mad promoters to dredge the floor of the desert. With the demise of the Bullfrog boom, the area reverted to practical desertion until the modern talc mining operators began in the 1930s. With the exception of the dormant talc mines, whose edifices dominate the physical remains in the region, very little is left with which to interpret the earlier years. Time, weather, sticky-fingered prospectors, and salvaging talc miners have combined to erase all but the most minute signs of earlier activities.
In brief, the South Valley and Ibex Hills region has seen periods of short and intermittent life, interspersed between years of practical desertion. The history of the area as a whole is not a continual tale of mans exploitation, but rather a series of brief and unconnected attempts to wrestle wealth from the barren ground. There is little left within the region with which to interpret its spotted past.
Source - NPS: Death Valley; Historic Resource Study, A History of Mining
Also see:
History of Ibex Spring
Early references to mining activities in the Ibex Hills area are somewhat questionable, due to vague and ...Geology of Ibex Spring
This site is located approximately 9.8 miles north of Saratoga Spring and 5.3 miles west of Highway 127. Coming from ...Ibex Wilderness
This wilderness includes portions of the Ibex Hills, Dublin Hills and Black Mountains. The Ibex Hills provide a ...Funeral Mountains - Greenwater Valley
Ecosubsection: This subsection consists of steep to very steep mountains and valleys with very gently to moderately ...Saratoga Springs
Several Springs feed three large open water ponds approximately ...Moorehouse Mine
The last stage of mining activities in south Death Valley opened in the mid-1930s, when ...Ibex Dunes
Visitors to Saratoga Springs may notice these dunes, but they are shielded from ...
