The Blue Diamond Mine and mill is a gypsum production facility at Blue Diamond Hill in Clark County, Nevada.^[1] The mine was initially owned by a Los Angeles company known as Blue Diamond, which began mining the land in 1925. An on-site processing plant was added in 1941, followed a year later by the construction of a nearby company town, known as Blue Diamond, Nevada. The mine was eventually sold to James Hardie Gypsum, which expanded operations in 1998. BPB took over the gypsum factory a few years later, and developer Jim Rhodes purchased 2,400 acres in 2003.

In 1924, the Blue Diamond company of Los Angeles purchased a 1,000-acre site for $75,000, and began mining its large deposit of gypsum.^[2][3] The site posed various obstacles for the development of a mining operation, including cost. There were no roads leading to the area, and there was no railroad connection leading to the Union Pacific line in nearby Arden, Nevada.^[3] A railroad spur line was built to connect the mine to Arden, located about 11 miles southeast.^[4][5] Quarry equipment and the construction of employee housing put the total project cost at more than $1 million.^[3] The mine opened in 1925.^[6] The initial production capacity was approximately 200 tons per day, a figure that was gradually increased with equipment improvements. Open-pit and underground mining took place at the site.^[3]

In 1941, Blue Diamond added a processing plant on-site for the gypsum, which had previously been processed in Los Angeles.^[3][7][8] Gypsum was mined at the top of Blue Diamond Hill and was transported by tram to the area below, where it was processed.^[3][9] The Blue Diamond Corporation subsequently built a company town in 1942, named Blue Diamond, Nevada.^[3] The mine, plant, and mill were expanded over the next decade. As of 1954, it had 325 employees.^[10] Gypsum is extracted from the upper portion of the Permian Kaibab Formation. The gypsum layer is on the westward slope of Blue Diamond Hill.^[11]