arkansas

Do you love diamonds but hate the cost?  Well there’s a place you can actually dig for diamonds and keep what you find.  People from across the world come here to try their luck in diamond prospecting.

This magical unexpected place is Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas.  This 37-acre park is in the top ten diamond reserves of the world and the only producing diamond mine in the United States.  Most importantly, it is the only place where anyone can be a miner, so how should you prepare?

Natural Diamonds are Forever

If you’re thinking you’ll find beautifully cut clear diamonds in the park, think again.  These are natural diamonds and might be white, yellow, or brown, and they come in all sizes.

You’ll need sharp eyes to find these gems as they’re randomly scattered in a field of dirt and will appear as shiny objects.  Most crystals turned up are just quartz though.  Other minerals you might find include amethyst, garnet, jasper, and agate – some neat finds, but not quite as impressive as a diamond!

A Diamond Mine in the Rough?

The diamonds in this park actually exist in their original volcanic source, which is rare.  About 100 million years ago a volcano erupted and brought deep mantle material to the surface at the mine’s location.  Gases within the magma material greatly expanded and created an explosion in the process.

The blast made a crater, and the magma material was ejected over the surrounding area.  These rocks known as “xenoliths” contained the diamonds and were eventually buried by soil.  As the weathering process of today breaks down the soil, the extremely resistant diamonds are slowly exposed.

Dreaming of South Africa

People began to suspect there might be diamonds in the “peridotite” soil of the park around 1890 after diamonds were found in the same kind of rock outside Kimberly, South Africa.  However, it wasn’t until 1906 that John Huddlestone found diamonds on his farm that were confirmed by a jeweler.

John Huddlestone ended up selling his farm for $36,000, and it was bought and sold several times afterward.  It was not as productive as the diamond mines in South Africa, and it was finally opened to the public as a pay-to-prospect mine in 1950.  In 1972, the State of Arkansas bought the property and began operations for “Crater of Diamonds State Park.”

You Won’t Find Anything… Maybe

Since the park opened in 1972, there have been about 30,000 diamonds found.  Most of the stones are too small for cutting or mounting, but there have been many significant finds.  The largest North American diamond called the “Uncle Sam Diamond” was found in 1929 at 40.23 carats.  The 3.03 carat “Strawn-Wagner Diamond” was found in 1990 by Shirley Strawn and graded at “Triple Zero,” the highest grade a diamond can achieve.

Very recently on April 10, 2022, Adam Hardin found a 2.38-carat coffee-brown colored diamond in the park.  This is the largest find of the year so far.  On average, visitors find two diamonds per day and 600 per year.

OK, Are There Any Good Tips?

Like anything, you can increase your chances of finding a diamond by following a few tips.  The most important tip is to plan your trip during the spring, summer, or fall when park employees plow the field.  Plowing causes more diamonds to rise to the surface.

You also need the right tools for your diamond adventure, and you can rent these from the park.  You might want a large shovel, bucket, and screen for sifting.  You can also study what the diamonds look like in the park’s visitor center to better train your eyes to spot the gemstones.

Arkansas is known as the ‘The Natural State.’  It is indeed a beautiful place, but this small diamond mine only reinforces the slogan.  If you’re looking for something interesting to do in an interesting place, you might consider trying your luck as a diamond miner.  You never know, you very well could end up finding the next “Uncle Sam Diamond.”

Find out about other interesting geologic places to visit here.