The Lincoln Mines Company initiated mining operations in Tempiute in 1940 after building a mill. The mines were productive until the end of World War II, but declined in the next five years. After the price of tungsten rose in 1950, the mining camp was reestablished when the Wah Chang Trading Company, a New York-based tungsten importer and trading company, incorporated the entire mining district as the Black Rock Mining Company.[4] From 1950—1956, Tempiute had a population of 700, and a school.