Crater of Diamonds Newsletter

THE YEAR 2011 HAS BEEN A SUCCESSFUL ONE FOR DIAMOND

HUNTERS AT THE CRATER OF DIAMONDS STATE PARK

Monday’s 3.83-carat, Yellow Diamond Find Marks the 30^th Diamond Weighing

Over a Carat Found at Arkansas’s Diamond Site This Year

Looking back over the past 12 months, the year 2011 has been a successful one for the park visitors who have hunted for diamonds in the 37 ½-acre search area at Arkansas’s diamond site, the Crater of Diamonds State Park. According to Park Superintendent Justin Dorsey, over 500 diamonds have been found by visitors this year. Of this year’s diamond finds, 30 have weighed over a carat each. The year’s largest diamond find was an 8.66-carat white diamond found in April. And on Monday of this week, David Anderson of Murfreesboro found the 535^th diamond this year. His 3.83-carat pear-shaped, yellow diamond marks the fourth largest find for the year.

Park Interpreter Margi Jenks said, “This has been a great year for our park visitors here at the Crater of Diamonds. During every month this year a visitor has unearthed a diamond weighing over a carat. And in April, six diamonds weighed over a carat including the year’s largest diamond find, the 8.66-carat Illusion Diamond discovered by Beth Gilbertson of Salida, Colorado.” She continued, “That white diamond ranks as third largest diamond found by a park visitor since the Crater of Diamonds was established as an Arkansas state park in 1972.”

Jenks noted that David Anderson’s diamond find this week was the fourth largest diamond find this year. He found it in the East Drain section of the park’s search area. A regular diamond digger at the park, Anderson found the diamond while washing dirt from a hole that was located among other holes dug by park visitors. Jenks said, “It’s a pale yellow, very shiny diamond about the size of dime. That shine is characteristic of diamonds found here at the Crater of Diamonds.”

According to David Anderson, he discovered the diamond while he was washing and screening material from the hole. He said, “Everyone else had moved away from that spot. Everyone missed it!” Anderson continued, “It was in the first bucket of material I washed that morning, and I caught the diamond in my top screen.” A regular prospector at the park, Anderson noted that he’s found many diamonds at the park. “This is my sixth diamond weighing over one carat, but this one is the largest of all my diamond finds!” Anderson credits hard work and his “passion for treasure hunting” as the reasons for his success at the park. “You wonder what’s going to be in the next bucket. I’m still looking for an even bigger diamond.”

Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Anderson lives in near the park in Murfreesboro now. He decided to name his 3.83-carat diamond the Wolverine Diamond after the Michigan Wolverines American football team, his favorite team. “After finding the diamond Monday morning, I met a gentleman from Michigan at the park who was also a Wolverine fan. The diamond’s name just came naturally from our conversation.”

Search area last plowed: October 20, 2011; Most recent heavy rain: December 15 and 16, 2011

Total diamonds found in 2011: 539

Diamonds registered for December 11-December 17, 2011 (100 points = 1carat):

December 11 - Al & Ella Bell, Murfreesboro, AR, 3 pt. white

December 13 - Joe & Michelle Laros, 6 pt. white, 6 pt. white, 7 pt. yellow, 9 pt. white, 35 pt. brown

December 14 - Bonnie Wright, Jonesboro, AR, 61 pt. white

December 15 - David Anderson, Murfreesboro, AR, 11 pt. white, 3.83 ct. yellow

December 16 - Anne Marie Warburton, Janesville, AR, 10 pt. brown

December 17 - Kenny &Melissa Oliver, 12 pt. white; Eric Lackey, Oroville, CA, 2 pt. white; Tim Pittman, Jacksonville, AR, 28 pt. white

209 State Park Road
Murfreesboro, AR 71958
Email: craterofdiamonds@arkansas.com
Phone: (870) 285-3113

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