Diamond hunter spots ‘trash or a bug’ — until seeing it shine. See the 2.3-carat find
A visitor at an Arkansas state park left with a valuable souvenir after finding a white diamond.
On Sept. 27, a guest visiting the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas was searching for diamonds, according to an Oct. 7 news release from Arkansas State Parks.
The visitor arrived at the park at 8 a.m. and began searching areas of water for diamonds. When the visitor didn’t find any diamonds in the water, they began looking on land.
“If I find a diamond today, it will probably be right here on the surface,” the diamond hunter said, per the release.
The visitor then spotted something “sparkling on top of the ground,” the release said.
“From far away it shined so clearly,” the visitor said in the release. “I thought it might be a piece of trash or a bug; it was so much shinier than anything else out there.”
After walking over and picking it up, the guest realized it was not trash or a bug, “but a glimmering stone,” park officials said.
The visitor took the diamond to be inspected at the park.
“Even after a few years of working here, I am still surprised when a finder pulls a large diamond out of their pocket so nonchalantly,” park Interpreter Sarah Reap said in the release.
Reap confirmed it to be a 2.30 carat white diamond, according to the release.
This is the second-largest diamond registered in 2024, according to park officials.
The diamond is the size of a pencil eraser with a pitted surface.
Over 75,000 diamonds have been found at the Crater of Diamonds since 1906.
This story was originally published October 7, 2024 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Diamond hunter spots ‘trash or a bug’ — until seeing it shine. See the 2.3-carat find."
