Free Republic

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: A visitor to Crater of Diamonds State Park had her ultimate wish granted when she found a diamond glittering right next to her boot. Most guests at the park either find themselves digging or sifting for diamonds, but some luck out enough to find them on the surface. This one park holds so many diamonds because of a volcanic vent that exploded in the area a hundred million years ago. ============================================================================ When Micherre Fox made the trek from New York City to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Pike County,...

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- An Arkansas man who visited Crater of Diamonds State Park for the first time later discovered what he thought was a clear piece of glass was a 4.87-carat diamond. Jerry Evans of Lepanto said he had only been at the park in Murfreesboro when he picked up what he thought was a clear piece of glass and pocketed it. "I thought it might be a piece of glass, it was so clear. I really didn't know," he told Arkansas State Parks officials. "We were picking up everything thinking it was a diamond." A while after leaving...

A Nebraska teacher visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas found a 2.2-carat brown diamond, the largest diamond found at the park so far this year. Photo courtesy of Arkansas State Parks ========================================================== July 30 (UPI) -- A Nebraska man visiting Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park found a 2.2-carat brown diamond, the largest found at the park so far this year. Josh Lanik, 36, a schoolteacher from Hebron, told Arkansas State Parks officials he was visiting the park with his family July 24 when he spotted something shiny on the surface of the ground. "We took the kids...

A Baton Rouge, LA woman visiting Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro found an apparently flawless 2.09-carat white diamond the size of a tooth. Rhonda Bankston reportedly says she found out about the park's surface diamond prospecting on a show about finding cash and treasure. She was into her second day of prospecting by surface searching over a newly plowed field with friends when she spotted the gem. The park is located on the eroded surface of the world's eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit and visitors pay a fee to surface search there.