Business

The mining towns of Bodie, California, and Rhyolite in Nevada are reminders of what happens when the minerals run out.

Built during the late 19th-century and early 20th-century gold and silver rushes, they grew fast, drew in thousands of prospectors and capital, and then emptied out when mining stopped making economic sense. In the case of Bodie, the boom lasted around five years, until 1882, and the last residents packed up and left in 1943. Today, they survive as preserved ghost towns, visited only by tourists.