Family visiting state park unearths 3-carat diamond worth thousands

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USA family visiting an Arkansas state park has unearthed a nearly three-carat diamond worth thousands of dollars.Raynae Madison and her family from Cookson, Oklahoma, were visiting the Natural State on a weekend trip to celebrate her nephew William’s birthday. With nothing but a beach digging kit and sand sifting tools from a dollar store, they made their way to the world-famous Crater of Diamonds State Park on September 13. After the family dug through a few buckets of dirt on the north side of the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area, Madison noticed an “unusual oblong, shiny stone,” according to an Arkansas State Parks press release retelling the remarkable discovery. “At first I thought it looked really neat, but I wasn’t sure what it was,” Madison said in a statement. “I honestly thought it was too big to be a diamond!” open image in galleryA family visiting an Arkansas state park has unearthed a nearly three-carat diamond worth thousands of dollars (Arkansas State Parks)The staff at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center identified the stone as a 2.79-carat chocolate brown diamond.“Brown diamonds from the Crater occur due to a process called plastic deformation, which creates structural defects during a diamond’s formation or movement in magma,” Emma O’Neal, Park Interpreter at Crater of Diamonds State Park, said in a statement. She explained: “These defects reflect red and green light, combining to make the diamond appear brown.” open image in galleryThe staff at the Crater of Diamonds State Park identified the stone as a 2.79-carat chocolate brown diamond (Arkansas State Parks)open image in galleryIt is the third-largest diamond out of the 403 gems registered at the park this year (Arkansas State Parks)A natural 2.79-carat oval diamond can range in price from $11,500 to $106,000, depending on factors such as the gem’s color and clarity, according to diamond comparison site StoneAlgo.But there can be a huge discrepancy when it comes to uncut diamonds like the one Madison found. Madison named her stone the William Diamond after her nephew. It is the third-largest diamond out of the 403 gems registered at the park this year, according to the press release.“2025 has been a great year for large diamond finds! So far, we have registered four diamonds weighing over two-carats,” O’Neal said.



Source link