Crater of Diamonds Newsletter

Greetings from Crater of Diamonds State Park! Last year, park staff registered 455 diamonds at the Crater, including 232 white diamonds, 110 brown diamonds, and 113 yellow diamonds, totaling 96.70 carats in weight. 17 diamonds weighed over one carat. Arkansans found 227 diamonds, while visitors from 32 other states and three foreign countries found 228 gems. Visitors found 64 diamonds on the surface of the park’s 37 ½-acre search area, including all six of the year’s largest finds!

Andrea Murphy, of Gentry, AR, discovered the fifth-largest diamond of 2013 on April 5, while visiting the park with family for her 30^th birthday. After surface searching for about two hours, she found a 2.10-carat sweet tea brown diamond. Because diamond is the birthstone for April, Murphy named her gem the Andrea Birthday Diamond in celebration of her special day.

Another large diamond was discovered on our nation’s birthday, when Terry Staggs, of Richmond, KY, found a 2.95-carat gem on July 4. Staggs, a regular visitor to the Crater since 1985, found his largest diamond so far while walking the East Drain of the search area and watching for anything that sparkled. Since he found the champagne brown gem, the year’s third largest, on Independence Day, he named it the Patriot Diamond.

July turned out to be successful for many visitors, and two more large diamonds were found near the end of the month. On July 27, Steve Vehige, of Flint Hill, MO, was visiting the park for his fourth time when he discovered his first diamond. While chatting with another visitor who wondered aloud what rough diamonds look like, Vehige noticed a 2.05-carat brown diamond lying near his feet. He named the sweet tea-colored gem the Flint Hill Special, for his hometown and for the Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs song of the same name.

Four days later, 12-year-old Michael Dettlaff, of Apex, NC, found the year’s largest diamond. While traveling to visit relatives in Fayetteville, AR, Michael and his family made a side trip to the Crater of Diamonds. After searching for less than ten minutes, Michael found a honey brown gem on top of the plowed search area. He brought the jellybean-sized stone to the Diamond Discovery Center to show his father, who at the time was renting equipment to begin his own diamond search! Park staff later identified Michael’s find as a brown diamond weighing 5.16 carats. Grateful for the blessing of a diamond find, Michael named his gem the God’s Glory Diamond. It is the eighth-largest brown diamond that has been found since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas State Park in 1972!

The fall season brought cooler temperatures, changing leaves, and two more of the year’s largest diamonds. On September 28, San Antonio, TX resident Clay Jarvis discovered a 2.13-carat champagne brown diamond on his second trip to the park, while surface searching in the East Drain. Jarvis, who first learned about the Crater of Diamonds from a Discovery Channel program, noted that he learned how to recognize diamonds by attending a diamond mining demonstration during his first visit. He named his gem the Nonna “J” Diamond for his wife, a grandmother and student of the Italian language; Nonna is the Italian word for grandmother.

Upon seeing a news story about Michael Dettlaff’s 5.16-carat diamond earlier in the year, 14-year-old Tana Clymer and family, of Oklahoma City, planned a fall visit to Crater of Diamonds State Park. On October 19, after sifting for about two hours and surface searching almost ten minutes, Tana found the year’s second-largest diamond, a 3.85-carat canary yellow, teardrop-shaped gem! Believing that God led her to the diamond, Tana said a prayer of thanks and named her beautiful gem the God’s Jewel Diamond.

A sign located near the diamond search area entrance reads, “You are about to become a part of history!” While we enjoy sharing stories of the visitors who have made history here with their own diamond finds, we are looking forward to an exciting year and many more diamond discoveries in 2014!

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