Tourist Finds 7.64-ct Diamond Thanks to Heavy Rain
January 28, 24
(IDEX Online) - A tourist from France found one of the largest diamonds ever recovered at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, in Arkansas, USA.
Julien Navas unearthed a 7.64 carat chocolate brown stone, after days of heavy rain washed away soil at the "dig your own diamond" attraction.
Visitors using basic tools search the 37-acre field - the eroded surface of a volcanic crater - for a variety of rocks, minerals, and gemstones - and keep whatever they find.
Navas named his gem the Carine Diamond, after his fiancée. He said he hopes to have the stone cut into two diamonds, one for her and one for his daughter.
"I am so happy. All I can think about is telling my fiancée what I found," he said.
Assistant park superintendent Waymon Cox said: "We periodically plow the search area to loosen the diamond-bearing soil and promote natural erosion.
"As rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals and diamonds near the surface."
It is the largest find at the park since 2020, when Kevin Kinard found the 9.07-carat Kinard Friendship Diamond and the eighth-largest since the park opened for diamond digging in 1972.
Pics courtesy Crater of Diamonds State Park.