Salt Mining
A large salt deposit located along the northern bank of Lake Mead, south of Overton Landing was mined by Native Americans for hundreds of years before the white man came to the area.
When white settlers came to Moapa Valley, they discovered this valuable location and mined salt for food preparation, livestock and trading.
Silver Reef Mine in Leeds, Utah, demanded large quantities of salt for their mining process. When farming was slow or money needed, farmers would carry loads of salt in their wagons to the mines in Leeds for cash money. Two men could load a four-team wagon with 1½ tons of salt from the salt mine and with a ten-day journey, take home $25.00 cash.
It was a dangerous process to get the salt because dynamite was used to break up the huge salt cliffs. Stephen Abbott of Bunkerville was killed by a blast that was unexpectedly larger than planned. Eventually the freighting of large quantities of salt ended due to the closure of Silver Reef Mine in Leeds.
After the Hoover Dam was completed and Lake Mead filled, access to the salt mine was closed.
Mineral Mining
The Virgin Mountains, located south of Virgin Valley, are home to two primary mining districts: Bunkerville Mining District and the Gold Butte Mining District. While numerous mines and claims existed, few were successful in producing large quantities of minerals. The most notable mines included Key West Mine (copper), Grand Gulch Mine (copper) and Gold Butte Mine (gold, copper, uranium) in the Gold Butte District, along with Tri State Mine (tungsten) and Lead Mine (lead) in the Bunkerville District.
Gold Butte experienced a brief gold rush in 1905, leading to the establishment of a town of 500 people. However, the rush was short-lived and the town quickly faded. Copper was transported from Grand Gulch and Key West Mines to the railroad in Moapa Valley. Jumbo Mine supplied quartzite used in the construction of the Los Angeles Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The 1950s brought excitement with uranium claims, but quantities were too small for sustained mining. Tri State Mine also garnered attention for its tungsten. But despite significant investment and infrastructure, it never produced tungsten and left investors with losses.