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Crater garnets make for a great find!
By Waymon Cox
Greetings from Crater of Diamonds State Park! With a new year underway, it’s time to take a look at the gemstone traditionally associated with the month of January—garnet. Like diamonds, garnets can be found in almost any color imaginable. Smaller garnets are often used as industrial abrasives, while larger, clearer ones may be gemstone quality. There are six common types of garnet in the world, and one of these may be found at the Crater! Our own native species is called pyrope, which is Greek for “fire-eyed.” Typically small, these garnets are often found lodged into the bottoms of screens used for wet sifting! Garnets at the Crater usually exhibit a glassy shine, with a dark red or purple hue. Formed deep underground in Earth’s mantle—similar to diamonds—they sometimes serve as indicator minerals for geologists searching for diamond-bearing pipes. Though often difficult to spot, searching for these tiny-but-beautiful garnets at Crater of Diamonds State Park can be a fun and rewarding activity for those of us who are less than fortunate when it comes to finding diamonds!
Diamond Finds for January 7 - 11, 2009
January 7 - Patrick Elkins, Oxford, Maine, 7 pt. white; Heth Emison, Gurdon, AR, 21 pt. brown January 8 - Billy Moore, Alma, AR, 12 pt. white, 19 pt. white; Rhett Ferguson, Greenbrier, AR, 21 pt. brown January 9 - Glenn Worthington, Springdale, AR, 4 pt. white January 10 - Glenn Worthington, Springdale, AR, 6 pt. white January 11 - Billy Moore, Alma, AR, 57 pt. yellow; Robin Smith, Bentonville, AR, 43 pt. yellow |
209 State Park Road
Murfreesboro, AR 71958
Email: craterofdiamonds@arkansas.com
Phone: (870) 285-3113
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