One lucky little girl recently found a nice-sized diamond while visiting an Arkansas state park, known for its diamond fields.
On September 1, 7-year-old Aspen Brown of Paragould, Arkansas, discovered a 2.95-carat “Golden Brown” diamond while celebrating her birthday and exploring gems at Crater of Diamonds State Park in southwestern Arkansas.
While resting near a fence line, she came upon a green pea-sized rock and ran to tell her father.
A recent photo posted on the Crater of Diamonds State Park page shows what part of the search area looks like: a large dirt field. The park contains a 37.5-acre diamond exploration area, and approximately 75,000 diamonds have been found here since they were first discovered by the farmer who owned the land before it became a state park.
Why are so many diamonds found in this particular park? It is located at the top of an ancient volcano, which brought diamonds formed deep in the earth to its surface.
She must have had extra luck on the day Aspen was there. An excavation company working on an erosion-management project had recently completed turning over a large amount of fresh soil on the north side of the area where it was discovered.
“A contracted company dug a 150-yard trench in August to help manage erosion in the northern portion of the discovery area,” Crater of Diamonds Park Superintendent Caleb Howell said in a statement from Arkansas State Parks. “Many tonnes of undiscovered diamond material was exposed and it is quite possible that this diamond and other diamonds were exposed as a result.”
A few diamonds, mostly the size of a grain of rice, are found almost every day in the park. A recent Facebook post for the state park lists several diamonds discovered in August, along with the color and score (or fraction of a carat) of each.
Crater of Diamonds State Park offers gem-seeking visitors a chance to keep their finds. Park rangers will also help verify and log finds, although you will need to evaluate them to find out what their value might be.
The most valuable diamond found in the park was an 8.52-carat white diamond found by a visitor from Colorado in 2015. Because of its flawless color and clarity, the so-called Esperanza diamond was worth $1 million. But the largest diamond ever found in the Crater of Diamonds since it first opened as a state park in 1972 was a 16.37-carat stone that was discovered in 1975.
You can check out the park’s FAQ page to read more about what to expect when visiting the Crater of Diamonds. You’ll want to wear good shoes and bring extra water when exploring in the warmer months. And if you don’t have your own diamond digging and sorting equipment, you can rent some at the park.
While many people visit the park for the first time, some are regular explorers. A man who found a 3.29-carat brown diamond in the park in March 2023 has collected more than 400 diamonds there in 16 years. In 2022, another regular brown diamond of 2.38 carats was found. However, new visitors – including a Californian passing through the area who found a 4-carat diamond – have also found significant diamonds.
This story was originally published by on anna weaver The simplest.