A pair of spring clusters in the NE¼ NE¼ SW¼ and the SW¼ SW¼ SE¼ Sec. 29, T6N, R35E near Sodaville (5.6 km south of Mina) have temperatures up to 38.3°C. The total flow was reported to be 341 L/min (Van Denburgh and Glancy, 1970; Stearns and others, 1937). White (1955a) reported that the springs emerge from marshy ground and travertine, and have a maximum temperature of 37.7°C. Mariner and others (1974) have estimated the reservoir temperature at 98°C from a silica geothermometer.
In the 1880s the readily available water supply at Sodaville prompted construction of an ore smelter. A hotel and bathhouses, owned by Martin Brazzanovich, also occupied the site during this period (Myrick, 1962, p. 175). For several years (Ca. 2000) Bob Eddy of Desert Lobster has raised freshwater crayfish (locally called freshwater Australian lobster or the red swamp crayfish) in the warm waters. The optimum water temperature for growth of red swamp crayfish is reported to be 24-29°C. Desert Lobster reported that the crayfish grow to 0.45 kg. A limited amount of vegetables is raised for sale in a small greenhouse.
A hot-springs-type tungsten-manganese deposit (the Black Jack Mine) occurs in pre-Tertiary chert in the NW¼ SE¼ SW¼ Sec. 29, T6N, R35E. This locality is 500 m northeast of Sodaville. The deposits consist of veins of bluish chalcedonic quartz, calcite, gypsum (often selenite), iron oxides, and tungsten-bearing psilomelane. The main vein trends about N50°E, dips 75 southeast, and is up to 1 m wide (White, 1955a; L. Garside, unpub. data). At one time, travertine probably capped the veins but has since been removed by slight erosion. The veins are believed to be the "roots" of former Pliocene hot springs (R. Roberts, in White, 1955a; Kerr, 1946).
Where manganese is high, tungsten also appears to be high. A sample with 40.3% manganese and 7.2% iron contained 3.0% WO3. Ore that is high in iron, on the other hand, is low in tungsten. Another sample with 1.2% manganese and 35.4% iron contained only 0.05% WO3 (White, 1955a). Kerr (1946) reported 4.88% tungsten in a psilomelane sample, and Warner and others (1959) reported 0.0075% BeO from the deposit.