In the 1880s, famous twenty-mule teams hauled borax from mines in Death Valley to the railroad junction in Mojave, and the wagon route passed just north of here. In 1925, a huge deposit of borax ores was discovered near Boron, and by the late 1920s mining here had replaced borax mining in Death Valley. The modern mine north of the highway is an open pit more than one mile long, one-half mile wide, and 500 feet deep, where nearly 80 minerals were found. These minerals formed from unusual chemicals deposited in what was once a shallow lake. Long ago, volcanic flows formed a broad, shallow basin, and the ridges to the northeast are made of this lava. Water and steam rich in borates rose through volcanic vents and cracks and settled in the basin. As the water evaporated, beds of borax formed. Over time, wind and water eroded nearby mountains and ridges, and this erosion covered the borax deposit with several hundred feet of sediment. Borax, a mineral composed of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water, and chemicals made from it are used in hundreds of products from soaps and cosmetics to aircraft parts and jet fuels.