2005 04, Nevada

2005 05 01 Tonopah

Today was my appointment at the Lincoln tungsten mind at Tempiute, near Rachel. I found out who the caretaker for the mine was by asking at the tiny Quik-Pik store in Rachel, and 5 minutes after asking was talking to him. He turned out to be the nicest guy, a Rachel local whose family has a long history in the valley. More about that later.

The weather in Tonopah was, in a word, miserable when I left. Intermittent rain and very gray. I almost called to cancel, but I thought well, it might be different there, and I'd like to meet this guy anyway and get "the tour". I looked at the weather radar online and it did look like things would be better to the southeast. In fact things did get better, a lot better, and by mid morning in Rachel it was gorgeous.

On the way from Tonopah to Rachel you pass through Warm Springs, at the junction of US6 and NV375. It looks like there has been some sort of settlement or activity at this location for some time, due to the free flowing hot springs. The water comes right out of the hillside and seems to be about 103-104 degrees. Perfect for a spa! It's minerally smelling but not unpleasant. There are remains of some very old structures, as well as a more recent hot springs and pool that someone ran as a business. The pool is still here, but fenced. (If you go to the Rachel link above you can find information about Warm Springs through the "Nearby Places" link.)

Here are some snaps. I did not shoot any film because the light was not very good. I will another time.

The left shot in the middle row is the spring itself. The others are the old (bottom row, left) new (pool and small buildings), and the trash that tends to accumulate in palces like this (bottom right).

The last three shots are of the stream that carries the warm water from the spring itself to the pool and then out into the desert beyond. The stream has been partly channeled, for neatness, I suppose.

At the intersection of 6 and 375 there is this sign. It's a lot less shot up since it's a lot further from civilization.

Sixty miles south of Warm Springs is Rachel. I met my contact and we chatted a bit, then were off for the mine. I thought he might want to stay around while I was photographing, but he did not need to. He opened all the locks and showed me around and then left. I told him I would probably be there all day but that I would lock up and then drive back in to Rachel to check in with him before leaving. I wanted him to know for sure when I was out.

He knew a lot about the mine, and in hindsight I didn't ask him one important question, which was if he had worked at the mine at any point. When I checked in with him on the way out I did ask if he would mind if I called him again for perhaps another entry, and he was very agreeable to that. I am sure I will, and then I'll ask if he had worked there. I think I will be able to learn a lot more about the area too.

The Lincoln tungsten mine at Tempiute is new, having shut down in 1980. It was operated by Union Carbide although they sold the operation to a new owner in Las Vegas that has not done anything significant with the site. (If you go to the Rachel link above you can find information about Tempiute through the "Nearby Places" link.)

There are three main structures at the modern mine. One is a simple two story office building, which also housed the locker room for the mine workers. It's pretty boring. The second is a small building that looks like it might be a very old structure that was rebuilt. It contained a lab that looked at core samples, many of which are stacked in boxes in the basement. The third structure is the main processing building, and it is enormous. There must have been somehuge milling machinery in this building while it was operating. There are two very large machine rooms and then some worker spaces (lunch room, etc.) and loading dock/shop area.

Here's that small building with the core samples.

Here's the large processing building. The machinery in here must been huge and incredibly noisy. The piers that the machinery sat on look like the remains of a shrine of some sort.

On the left is an exterior shot of the processing building. The opening in the center left is door sized. The building on the right is the office building.

Here are 4 exterior shots of the remains of the structure that moved ore from the mine to the processing building. The first two are the structure that received ore from a narrow gauge rail that brought it from the main tunnel. It was dumped into an opening at the very top and was moved on a conveyor to the processing building. The coveyor is gone, all that remains is the concrete structures. Again, very shrine-like.

The main tunnel entrance is about 500 yards to the right of the concrete structure above. The narrow gauge rail runs into the tunnel. I could have gone in the tunnel, but didn't. It had about 6 inches of water at the entrance, and although my guide says he has been in about a mile (of the 28 total miles of tunnels and rooms) and explored a lot of the rooms and machinery still there I was way too tired to even think about it. Maybe another time.

Here are a couple of shots of the pair of owls that live in the large processing building. They are way up against the roof, about 70 or 80 feet overhead. The one on the left is the male, the one on the right is the female.

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