February 19, 2011

Since the discovery of diamonds in the fields of Pike County in 1906, there have been many unprofitable attempts at commercial mining in the area. One early twentieth-century attempt was made by the Kimberlite Diamond Mining and Washing Company owned by Austin Millar and his son Howard. Shown here are employees engaged in the company’s Pike County operation. The company stayed in business until around 1911. The last serious attempts at commercial mining ended in the late 1990s, after which the state legislature issued a permanent ban on testing in the area.