Born in July 1840 in Nicaragua, Ferminia Sarras immigrated to America in 1867 and, though mining was a man's world, became a prospector who ventured alone into the Central Nevada desert and developed into a highly successful woman miner. Her initial mining claims, the Amant and the Central America, were filed in 1888, and many more followed. In 1902, investors bonded 25 of her copper claims at 8,000 dollars each in the first of several major sales. In 1905, the railroad established a terminal in Soda Springs Valley and named the town Mina after her, honoring Nevada's Copper Queen. She died on February 1, 1915, in Luning, Nevada.