116 shiny diamonds certified at the Crater in July

By Waymon Cox

  Greetings from Crater of Diamonds!  For the fourth time this year, more than one hundred diamonds have been registered in a single month.  In July, 116 diamonds were identified and certified for 30 finders by park staff.  Only one diamond certified last month weighed more than one carat - a 1.09 ct. brown diamond found on the 22^nd by Tennessean Edwin Long.

  This July’s finds numbered 34 more than last July, and as of July 31^st, we were 165 finds ahead of January - July 2008 totals!

  Overall, most diamond finds were certified by Arkansas residents, but 15 out-of-state visitors also registered 16 diamonds in July.  With the recent closure of our campground due to ongoing renovations, it will be interesting to see what sort of impact this will have on diamond finds in the months to come!

Search area last plowed:  June 18, 2009

Diamond finds for July 27 - August 2, 2009:

July 27 - Denis Tyrrell, Murfreesboro, AR, 15 pt. brown

July 28 - Denis Tyrrell, Murfreesboro, AR, 44 pt. brown; Lou Garou, Murfreesboro, AR, 6 pt. white

July 30 - Glenn Worthington, Springdale, AR, 0.4 pt. white, 1 pt. white, 2 pt. white, 2 pt. white; Darlene McMoran, Little Rock, AR, 34 pt. white

July 31 - Rebecca Keeton, Delight, AR, 6 pt. brown; Blue Wilcox, Greenbriar, AR, 73 pt. white

August 1 - Rebecca Keeton, Delight, AR, 17 pt. white; Antonio Resendez, Arlington, TX, 24 pt. white; Allen South, Oklahoma City, OK, 4 pt. white, 6 pt. white; Cliff Phillips, Lone Jack, MO, 8 pt. white

August 2 - Mariam Deme, Hot Springs, AR, 81 pt. white