, advertising diamonds mining in the early 1900s In 1889, Arkansas state geologist John Branner investigated the site of an 1842 report noting an
igneous intrusion amidst sedimentary rock near Murfreesboro. He determined it was
kimberlite, but without any associated diamonds. In early 1906, John Wesley Huddleston purchased the area looking for gold. Instead, in August he found two diamonds, 3- and 4.5-
carats identified by
George Frederick Kunz. Visiting the site with
Henry Stephens Washington, Kunz noted of the 140 diamonds collected from the surface, "They are absolutely perfect and are equal to the finest stones [of Africa] or that were ever found in India...Economical extraction [should be entirely] successful." The Arkansas Diamond Company was formed, headed by the Little Rock banker Samuel Reyburn, and Huddleston sold out for $36,000. Kunz and Washington prepared a mining plan for the 73 acre
orebody, and initially 1400 diamonds were found in the
regolith. Soon ten thousand prospectors started to search the outlying area for diamonds, and for fifty cents a day they could keep any diamonds found on the neighboring Mauney property. The Mauneys also sold lots for the town of Kimberly, which soon contained stores, restaurants, and a hotel. In 1908, the Arkansas Diamond Company hired John Fuller, a former
De Beers engineer. Yet money was wasted, and the thousands of diamonds mined were mainly less than half a carat, and the few large ones were industrial grade. In 1912, the mine closed after running out of financial capital. Only a watchman and assistants continued looking for diamonds. In 1912, Austin Q. Millar and his son Howard Millar rented and bought surrounding Murfreesboro properties, including the Mauney place, and established an ore processing system. For the next seven years, they mined thousands of modest stones. On 13 January 1919, the operation ended after arson burned the entire place. ==Geology==