Spring Mountains, Nevada, USA. Aerial photograph of the southernmost part of the Spring Mountains, with Devil Peak at upper right. In the background is Mesquite Dry Lake (white), across the state border in California. The nearby Clark Mountains (partly seen at far left) are the location of Mountain Pass rare earth mine. Operated by Molycorp, it is the only rare earth oxide (REO) mine in the Western hemisphere and the world's largest such mine outside of China. Dominating world trade from the 1960s to the 1980s, it was closed in 2002, with active mining resuming in 2010. Photographed in October 2011.