Silver-lead mining began in 1882 at the Ibex Mine but was never very profitable and shut down by 1892. For the next 15 years the mines only resident was Frank Barbour who assayed the claims each year. In 1906 several nearby claims with high grade ore were discovered and the town experienced a second rush despite the extraordinary cost to ship the ore. Frank’s Ibex mine now employed 20 men. By the 1920s the mines were again inactive.
Third Boom
In the 1930s John Moorehouse located 16 talc claims which produced 62,000 tons of ore but were depleted by 1959. The talc boom plus the spring water revived the town for this brief third boom.
Gray Rainy Day
The area is littered with silver, lead, gold and talc mines. We visited Ibex Spring on a blustery rainy day in Nov of 2016. After visiting part of the town site we drove up to the Moorehouse talc mine. The road was washed out at the lower workings were we entered the lower adit which was sealed but previous explorers had been climbing underneath. We did not feel like belly crawling through the talc with our rain dampened clothing. Due to the weather we did not climb to the upper Moorehouse workings nor visit any of the other mines in the area.
