No, it’s not a mirage. This satellite image below is of the (nearly 21 square miles!) borate/borax mine near Boron, California. As impressive as it is from space, the image clearly shows the alterations to the natural desert landscape resulting from the mining operation. Hopefully, at some point once mining has concluded at Boron, restoration efforts can be employed to re-establish the original terrain and topography as much as possible.
Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov
problogic
Panethos 
I’m pretty sure I was there decades ago on a college field trip. I picked up some great mineral samples from the waste pile. I can’t say the landscape bothered me at all. We do need these minerals, after all. And it’s a desert, a very arid desert even for this area. Not a lot of biological activity going on here.
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