ARIZONA MAN FINDS TWO-CARAT DIAMOND AT ARKANSAS' CRATER OF DIAMONDS STATE PARK
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The Barnetts set out on a “boys’ week” road trip from their home in late July, their main goal to visit family and have fun along the way. After learning about the Crater of Diamonds State Park from his uncle, who worked as a park interpreter at another Arkansas State Park, Will decided to stop by Arkansas’ diamond site to try their luck at finding a genuine diamond.
Will and
Marshall arrived at the park on the morning of July 27, buckets and shovels
in-hand. After renting screens at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, the two
entered the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area, a plowed field atop the
eroded surface of an ancient, diamond-bearing volcano, to start digging. After
filling a few buckets with diamond-bearing soil, they headed to the park’s
south wash pavilion to wet sift their dirt.
“Wet sifting
is one of the most effective methods to search for diamonds,” said Park
Interpreter Ashlyn Keys. “The search area has two wash pavilions, with water
troughs and tables, for visitors to wet sift. Using screens to separate dirt
from the gravel allows you to go through more material in less time, giving a
better chance of finding a diamond.”
While
sifting, Will spotted a promising, glimmering gem at the bottom of his screen.
He quickly called over his son, saying, “Hey Marshall, you should take a look
at this!” Marshall excitedly picked out the large stone before asking an
experienced miner nearby if they had just found a diamond.
Early that
afternoon, the Barnetts brought their find to the park’s Diamond Discovery
Center, where staff confirmed that it was a large diamond. Park Superintendent
Caleb Howell said, “While examining the diamond, I looked out the office window
and asked Mrs. Keys who the finders were, then said, ‘Wait, let me guess:
they’re the ones shaking with excitement!'”
“You could
tell they knew they had found something special from the smiles on their
faces,” said Keys.
The beautiful
two-carat diamond is rectangular in shape, about the size of a pencil eraser,
with a light brown color resembling iced tea. “The first thing I noticed was
two large facets that really shined when the light hit them just right,” Howell
said.
Many visitors
choose to name the diamonds they find at Crater of Diamonds State Park. As
frequent gold panners, Will and Marshall came up with the name “Minor Find,” as
Will often calls his son a “minor-miner.” Will says of their visit, “It’s worth
looking, even if you don’t find a diamond!”
In total,
over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the
first diamonds were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned
the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.
The largest
diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an
early mining operation on the land that later became Crater of Diamonds State
Park. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23
carats. It was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. The Uncle Sam is now
part of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the
National Museum of Natural History.
Another
well-known diamond from the park is the Strawn-Wagner. Found in 1990 by
Murfreesboro resident Shirley Strawn, this 3.03-carat white gem was cut into a
round brilliant shape weighing 1.09 carats. It graded as ideal cut, D-colorless
and flawless and was set in a platinum and 24-carat gold ring. In 1998, the
state of Arkansas purchased this diamond for $34,700 in donations and placed it
on permanent display at the park visitor center.
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