Mountain Pass, California

Mountain Pass
—  Unincorporated community  —
Mountain Pass
Location within the state of California
Coordinates:
Country United States
State California
County San Bernardino
Elevation 4,728 ft (1,441 m)
Time zone Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes 92366
Area code(s) 760
FIPS code
GNIS feature ID

Mountain Pass is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is situated on Interstate 15 in the southeast mountainous desert region of the state approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the Nevada border at an elevation of 4,730 feet (1,440 m) - the highest point along I-15 between California and Nevada. It has a population of 30.[1][2]

The most prominent feature of the town, and its reason for existence, is the Mountain Pass rare earth mine, an open pit mine for rare earth elements. The mine and its associated processing facilities, which are owned by Molycorp Minerals, are currently undergoing expansion and modernization, and are expected to be back up to full production in 2011.

References

  1. ^ "Mountain Pass, California CA, profile (San Bernardino County)". ePodunk. 2008. http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=10561. Retrieved 2009-03-04. 
  2. ^ Population and elevation according to city limit sign on I-15 northbound.