The Palomas Gap vanadium mines
— Robert W. Eveleth

The White Swan and Dewey vanadium mines at Palomas Gap, Sierra County, were the focus of a great deal of excitement among geologists and engineers alike during the first decade of the 20th century. Vanadium was a newcomer to the marketplace, after having been little more than a scientific curiosity for a century. The rush to develop domestic deposits of the metal without sufficient metallurgical research and expertise led to some interesting investment failures, one of which was the Vanadium Mines Company of Cutter, New Mexico.