Visitor Finds 2.10-carat diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park on Birthday
A 2.10-carat diamond was found in 2013 at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. The brown diamond was found by Andrea Murphy of Gentry, who was celebrating her 30th birthday that day. A neat tie in is that the diamond is the traditional birthstone for those who were born in the month of April.
According to former Park Interpreter Margi Jenks, “Andrea and eight of her family members gathered together at the Crater of Diamonds to celebrate a milestone, her 30th birthday. Her mother, Karen, came up with the idea to visit Arkansas’s diamond site and celebrate the occasion here since the diamond is Andrea’s birthstone.” Jenks said, “The square, iced tea brown diamond was a surface find after Andrea had been here for about two hours.”
The diamond is the 144th diamond found this year by a park visitor, and it is the sixth diamond since January 1st weighing over one carat. The colors of diamonds found at the park are white, brown, and yellow, in that order. “Because of their dark color, brown diamonds are the most difficult to find. However, this is the second large brown diamond found at the park in the last two weeks. A beautiful 1.61-carat brown diamond was found by a park visitor from St. Louis, Missouri, on March 28,” said Jenks.
Jenks noted that the conditions were perfect at the park for a diamond to be found on the surface of the diamond search area. “The park received a number of washing rainstorms in March, and then yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day. A good hard rain will wash dirt away that may be covering the diamonds. So, when diamonds are on the surface of the field, they sparkle, and can be seen easily.”
The diamond was found in the East Drain area of the field, a 37 ½-acre plowed field that is he eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world in surface area. It is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. On average, two diamonds are found each day at the park. The park’s policy is finder-keepers. The park staff provides free identification and registration of diamonds. Park interpretive programs and exhibits explain the site’s geology and history and offer tips on recognizing diamonds in the rough.
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at Arkansas’s diamond site since the first diamonds found in 1906 by John Huddleston, the farmer who at that time owned the land, long before the site became an Arkansas state park. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is located on Ark. 301 at Murfreesboro.