Who wouldn’t love to own the world’s most precious rocks, that too for free! Guess what? You can in Arkansas’, Crater of Diamonds State Park, the world’s only diamond mine open to the public.
© Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
At this one of a kind diamond mine, you can go on a real treasure hunt and the best part is, finders are keepers! You don’t need any sophisticated techniques or tools. Just get on your knees and start scouting.
The First Finder
Diamonds were first discovered in 1906 by a farmer named John Huddlestone whose farm was located right in the middle of the crater. On a typical day in the farm, he found two shiny stones in the mud while spreading rock salt on his hog farm. Curious, he closely inspected and to his surprise realized they were diamonds!
© Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
Hoping to change his family’s fortunes, he tried to sell the stones to the local bank that offered him only 50 cents for them. But Huddlestone trusted his gut and sent them to a gem expert in New York who confirmed that the stones were indeed valuable diamonds. Not interested in mining, he sold his farm to investors for $36,000. The investors made several unsuccessful attempts at commercial mining. Eventually they renamed the property as ‘Crater of Diamonds’ and opened it to the public in 1952. It was later purchased by the state and turned into a state park.
The Diamond Story
Scientists believe that a volcanic eruption about 100 million years ago created a huge 83-acre crater here. Thanks to this eruption, rocks and minerals from the Earth’s mantle were brought to the surface filling the crater with fragments of mantle rock containing diamonds. Time ensured the erosion of rocks, leaving diamonds and precious gems loose in the soil.
Since 1906, over 75,000 diamonds have unearthed from this crater. In fact, the largest diamond ever found in the USA called Uncle Sam was found right here in 1924. This precious white gem was 40.23 carats, as big as a gumball. Other big sparklers found here include the 34-carat ‘Star Murfreesboro’, the 15-carat ‘Star of Arkansas’ and the 8-carat ‘Star of Shreveport’.
The largest diamond ever found by a visitor was the 16-carat ‘Amarillo Starlight’ in 1975. Since then plenty of visitors have tried their luck. A handful of them find small 3 to 5 carat diamonds whereas most go back empty handed or with tiny match head size stones that are too small to be cut. Recently, in March 2017, a teenager Kalel Langford found a 7.44 carat diamond here, the seventh largest to be found in the park.
© Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
Even though your chances of getting lucky at the Crater of Diamonds are not high, you never know when the Lady Luck might smile upon you. So, if you ever plan to visit, don’t forget to go diamond hunting in Arkansas!
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