NEWS RELEASE: March 24, 2006
2.12-CARAT YELLOW DIAMOND FOUND AT CRATER OF DIAMONDS STATE PARK THIS AFTERNOON BY MOTHER AND SON FROM KANSAS
(Murfreesboro)—Less that 2 weeks after Oklahoma state trooper Marvin Culver found a flawless, 4.21-carat canary yellow diamond at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park, a park visitor from Kansas and her son found a stunning 2.12-carat, light lemon yellow there today at 3:00 p.m. Jennifer Jones of Derby, Kansas and her son, Jacob Ballard, were searching for diamonds near the Old Mine Shaft building in the park’s diamond search area, a 37 ˝-acre plowed field, when the gem appeared in sight. The boy tossed a rock and it knocked some dirt off the top of a mound of dirt and there sat the yellow diamond on top of what remained of the mound. The diamond search area is the eroded surface of the world’s eighth largest, diamond-bearing site in surface area.
According to Park Interpreter Rachel Engebrecht, the light yellow, oval-shaped diamond is transparent, like a dewdrop, and appears to be a gem quality, nearly flawless raw diamond.
She noted that diamonds are often found on the top of the park’s search area following rainfall, and it had recently rained at the park.
Jones had visited the park when she was a child and wanted to bring her son to the Crater of Diamonds to experience it, too. Today was their second day at the park.
According to the park staff, the striking oval-shaped gem is about the size of English pea, but elongated, somewhat of a teardrop in appearance.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. The park offers visitors a one-of-a-kind experience, the opportunity to prospect for real diamonds and keep any gems regardless of their value. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three most common colors found at the Crater of Diamonds are white, brown and yellow, in that order. On average, two diamonds are found each day at the park.
The park staff provides free identification and certification 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 those first 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. Other large notable finds from the Crater include the "Star of Murfreesboro" (34.25 carats) and the "Star of Arkansas" (15.33 carats).
The largest diamond of the 25,000 discovered by park visitors since the Crater became an Arkansas state park in 1972 was the 16.37-carat "Amarillo Starlight." W. W. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas found this spectacular gem-quality, white diamond in 1975.
In June 1981, the 8.82-carat "Star of Shreveport" was added to the growing list of large valuable stones found at the Crater.
Another notable diamond from the Crater of Diamonds that has received much national attention is the 1.09-carat D-flawless “Strawn-Wagner Diamond.” Discovered in 1990 by Shirley Strawn of nearby Murfreesboro, this white gem weighed 3.03 carats in the rough before being cut to perfection in 1997 by the renowned diamond firm Lazare Kaplan International of New York. The gem is the most perfect diamond ever certified in the laboratory of the American Gem Society. The diamond is on permanent display in a special exhibit in the Crater of Diamonds State Park visitor center.
Another gem from the Crater, the flawless 4.25-carat “Kahn Canary” diamond, discovered at the park in 1977, has been on exhibit at many cities around the U.S. and overseas. The uncut, triangular-shape diamond was featured in an illustrious jewelry exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium in 1997 that included precious stones from throughout the world including the Kremlin collection, the Vatican, Cartier and Christies. And, in late 1997, the “Kahn Canary” was featured in another prestigious exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York entitled, “The Nature of Diamonds.” Former First Lady Hillary Clinton borrowed the “Kahn Canary” from its owner, Stan Kahn of Pine Bluff, and wore it in a special, Arkansas-inspired ring setting designed by Henry Dunay of New York. Mrs. Clinton chose to wear the gem as a special way to represent Arkansas’s diamond site at the galas celebrating both of Bill Clinton’s presidential inaugurals.
Other semi-precious gems and minerals found at the Crater of Diamonds include amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite and quartz. Over 40 different rocks and minerals are unearthed at the Crater making it a rock hound's delight.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of Murfreesboro. It is one of the 52 state parks administered by the State Parks Division of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
For more information, contact: Tom Stolarz, park superintendent, Crater of Diamonds State Park, 209 State Park Road, Murfreesboro, Arkansas 71958. Phone: (870) 285-3113. E-mail: tom.stolarz@arkansas.gov. Or visit craterofdiamondsstatepark.com.
Additonal Diamond Finds
