Recently, a father and son from Arizona embarked on a trip to visit relatives in Arkansas and decided to do some sightseeing along the way. During their journey, they made a stop at the famous Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas for some gem hunting, and to their surprise, they unearthed a 2-carat light brown diamond, leaving them overjoyed.
According to a press release issued by the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, Will Barnett from Buckeye, Arizona, along with his son Marshall, set out on a week-long road trip in late July. While the primary purpose of their trip was to visit family in Arkansas, Will had heard about the popular attraction of the Crater of Diamonds State Park from his uncle, who had previously worked as a guide at another state park in Arkansas. Determined to take his son to the park for a fun experience and a chance at a lucky discovery, Will included it in their itinerary.
The Crater of Diamonds State Park stands out as the world’s only publicly accessible diamond-bearing site, where visitors can keep any diamonds they find after purchasing a ticket for just a few dollars. The diamond search area covers 37.5 acres, and on average, visitors unearth one to two diamonds per day.
On the morning of July 27th, equipped with essential tools such as buckets and shovels, the father and son duo arrived at the diamond crater ready for their gem-hunting adventure. Having planned to employ the “wet sifting” method, they first rented a sifting screen from the Diamond Discovery Center within the park before heading straight to the search area to start excavating soil. After filling several buckets, they eagerly proceeded to the washing pavilion for sand sifting and diamond picking.
“Wet sifting is one of the most effective ways to search for diamonds,” stated park guide Ashlyn Keys in the press release. “There are two washing pavilions in the search area equipped with water tanks and tables for visitors to engage in wet sifting. By using sifting equipment to separate soil from gravel, more soil can be sifted in a short time, thereby increasing the chances of finding a diamond.”
During the sifting process, Will suddenly noticed a shiny object at the bottom of the screen, realizing that this “rock” was something out of the ordinary. He quickly called his son over to investigate together.
Later that afternoon, the father and son took their discovery to the Diamond Discovery Center for authentication, confirming it as a genuine 2-carat diamond. Overjoyed by the news, the pair couldn’t contain their excitement.
Guide Keys mentioned that just by looking at their smiles, it was evident the duo knew they had found something special.
Park supervisor Caleb Howell described the beautiful diamond as rectangular in shape, akin to the eraser tip of a pencil in size, with a light brown color and two prominent facets that sparkle in the sunlight.
Following the tradition of naming diamonds by their finders, the father and son decided to name this 2-carat light brown diamond “Minor Find.”
The park’s press release noted that this “Minor Find” is the second-largest diamond found by visitors this year and the 412th diamond registered with the park so far this year.
Will shared his final thoughts, expressing that while finding the diamond brought them immense joy, even without any discoveries, the Crater of Diamonds State Park itself is a worthwhile destination to visit.