Crater of Diamonds Newsletter

One of the best times to look for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas’s
diamond site, is after a rainfall. Since diamonds in the rough feel like they have an oily film around
them, rainfall at the park washes the soil away from gems located near the surface of the diamond
search area and leaves them exposed where they can be seen by park visitors. The search area, a
37 ½-acre plowed field, is the eroded surface of the world’s eighth largest, diamond-bearing
deposit in the world in surface area. The field is plowed regularly by park staff to bring more
diamonds to the surface. And, Arkansas has experienced rainfall after rainfall as of late.

Stephen Carter and the Faith diamond

As Stephen Carter of Hot Springs was leaving the search area Tuesday evening around 6:00 p.m.,

he noticed a white diamond on the top of a mound of dirt alongside one the furrows in the field. He

was nearing the sidewalk where park visitors enter and leave the search area. His find is a beautiful,

2.35-carat white diamond. Shaped somewhat like an ice cube and clear like one, too, the diamond is

about the size of Black-eyed Pea.

Carter noted that he and his wife, who are self-employed, had gone through a rough financial time

during the current economy. A couple of months ago they saw TV news coverage of a woman who
found a diamond at the Crater of Diamonds. The idea popped into Carter’s head that finding a
diamond might be the answer to their struggles. They prayed about it for weeks, and then visited the
park to search for diamonds. Tuesday marked their fifth visit. “Our prayers were answered,” said
Carter of his diamond find Monday evening. And so, according to Carter, they’ve named their
diamond, “Faith.”

According to Carter, “My eyes caught the diamond two rows ahead” while leaving the search area.
When he picked it up, he said, “I have found a diamond!” His gem was found about 10 rows west
of the marker that notes where the 40.23-carat Uncle Sam diamond, the largest diamond ever
unearthed at the site, was found in 1924.

Park Interpreter Margi Jenks said, “Mr. Carter’s diamond is clear with no inclusions. It’s a beautiful,
sparkling white diamond.” She noted that the average is about two diamond finds a day at the park.
“Mr. Carter’s was the 418^th diamond find so far this year at the park.”

Park Superintendent Tom Stolarz noted that the park policy is finder-keepers. “What park visitors
find in the diamond search area is theirs to keep.” Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only
diamond-producing site open to the public. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three
most common colors found at the park are white, brown and yellow, in that order.

The park staff provides free identification and certification of diamonds. Park interpretive programs
and exhibits explain the site’s geology and history and offer tips on recognizing diamonds in the rough.
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at Arkansas’s diamond site since the first
diamonds found in 1906 by John Huddleston, the farmer who at that time owned the land, long before
the site became an Arkansas state park. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States

was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white

diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. Other large notable finds from the Crater include the

Star of Murfreesboro (34.25 carats) and the Star of Arkansas (15.33 carats).

The largest diamond of the 28,000 discovered by park visitors since the Crater became an
Arkansas state park in 1972 was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight. W. W. Johnson of Amarillo,
Texas, found this spectacular gem-quality, white diamond in 1975. In June 1981, the 8.82-carat Star
of Shreveport was added to the growing list of large valuable stones found at the Crater.