82 diamonds found at the Crater in January

By Waymon Cox

 Last month Crater of Diamonds State Park experienced one of its most successful Januarys ever, in terms of diamonds certified.   In fact, more diamonds were registered last month than any other month since April 2011!

 15 visitors from Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, and South Dakota registered 82 diamonds in January, weighing a total of 19.60 carats. 42 white diamonds were registered, totaling 12.63 carats in weight; 21 gems were yellow, weighing 3.99 carats; 19 were brown, with a total weight of 2.98 carats.

 Three diamonds weighed over one carat each. The largest was a 1.45-carat white gem registered on January 5 by Kenny and Melissa Oliver, of Rosston, Arkansas. Park staff also certified the 30,500^th diamond found since the Crater of Diamonds became a state park, a 1.09 ct. white diamond registered on January 26 by Murfreesboro resident David Anderson.

 If January is any indication, we will see many more visitors take home their very own Crater diamonds this year. March is already near, and thousands of eager prospectors will soon travel to Crater of Diamonds State Park in search of treasure during spring break. If you’ve never been to the Crater of Diamonds before, now is a great time to plan a visit; if you have been here, we hope you’ll come back!

Search area last plowed: December 4, 2012

Most recent significant precipitation:  February 12, 2013

Diamond finds for February 3 - 16, 2013 (100 points = one carat):

February 3 - Peter Jones, Fayetteville, AR, 6 pt. white

February 5 - Al Fling, Murfreesboro, AR, 7 pt. brown; Shelby Nichols, Buffalo, OK, 4 pt. white; Danell Nichols, Buffalo, OK, 4 pt. yellow

February 6 - Shelby Nichols, Buffalo, OK, 39 pt. yellow; Danell Nichols, Buffalo, OK, 97 pt. brown; Robert Russell, Spring, TX, 5 pt. white

February 10 - Adam Hardin & Ted Olson, Barberton, OH, 29 pt. brown

February 14 - Nazli, Yvette, & Robert Lopez, Belmopan, Belize, 5 pt. white

No diamonds found February 15-16.