 Visit with An Expert Diamond Miner By Margi Jenks On Saturday, September 29th, Crater of Diamonds State Park visitors will have an opportunity to learn some tips and tricks of diamond searching during our next Visit with an Expert Diamond Miner program. This program has become one of our visitor’s favorites. Our featured speakers are Kenny and Melissa Oliver. The Oliver’s are from Rosston, Arkansas and they have been coming to the diamond mine for almost 3 years.
 The Oliver’s grew up in Arkansas, so they always knew about the diamond mine. On weekends they liked to go hunting for Civil War relics and arrowheads. Melissa was the one that wanted to go diamond hunting, so for Mother’s Day in 2009 she picked the Crater for their weekend outing. Melissa says that they came because “they just had to see what’s in that dirt”. On March 20, 2011, they found the Silver Moon diamond, a 2.44 carat beauty that was so shiny that it almost appeared to glow. Melissa says “there was no doubt that it was a diamond, and I yelled for Kenny.” At first they decided not to sell it, but eventually they took it up to Underwood’s Fine Jewelry in Fayetteville, AR. The jewelers suggested that they have it cut, and the result is a beautiful 1.06 carat pear-shaped diamond worth over $21,000. Even though they have found this exceptional gem, they still keep coming to the diamond mine, looking for the next big diamond. So, at 2:00 PM on the 29th they will share their diamond searching experiences at the visitor center theater. The program is free and open to the public. Search area last plowed: August 24, 2012; Most recent significant rainstorms: August 31, 2012, 1” from Tropical Storm Isaac, measured at the park rain gauge Total diamonds found in 2012: 364 Diamonds registered for August 26 - September 2, 2012 (100 points = 1 carat): August 26 - Hal Harris, New Boston, TX, 92 pt. brown August 27 - Bill Moore, Murfreesboro, AR, 2 pt. white, 4 pt. white, 4 pt. white, 9 pt. white, 12 pt. white, 47 pt. yellow, 48 pt. white; Timothy Gray, Royal, AR, 11 pt. white, 16 pt. white August 28 - Robbie Kramer, Herington, KS, 1 pt. white August 29 - David Anderson, Murfreesboro, AR, 3 pt. yellow, 8 pt. brown, 8 pt. white, 25 pt. yellow August 30 and 31 - No diamonds were registered September 1 - Kenny & Melissa Oliver, Rosston, AR, 53 pt. white; Michael deQuesada, Tampa, FL, 18 pt. brown September 2 - David Anderson, Murfreesboro, AR, 4 pt. white, 15 pt. white, 68 pt. white; Bryan Jones, Sherwood, AR, 11 pt. yellow |
209 State Park Road
Murfreesboro, AR 71958
Email: craterofdiamonds@arkansas.com
Phone: (870) 285-3113
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