Tough Nut Mine

After an early period of operation that began in the late 19th century, the mine was closed and then reopened in the 1970s.

On March 5, 1879, U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor Solon M. Allis finished laying out a new town site on a mesa named Goose Flats at 4,539 feet (1,383 m), just above the Tough Nut mine.

The area was large enough to hold a growing town[1] and was named "Tombstone" after Ed Schieffelin's initial mining claim.

The shelters at Watervale were relocated to the new town site and a scattering of cabins and tents were quickly built for about 100 residents.In 1880, Al and Ed Schieffelin sold their two-thirds interest in the Tough Nut for $1 million (~$27.1 million in 2023) each to capitalists from Philadelphia, and sometime later Gird sold his one-third interest for the same amount.

Modern production is primarily silver, copper, lead, and zinc, with smaller amounts of gold and vanadium.