The Crater of Diamonds is a state park in Arkansas where, for the price of admission, one can enter and spend the day Fossicking for diamonds.
The Crater of diamonds is the only publicly available diamond bearing deposit available to the public and some very notable diamonds have been discovered there by people just there for the day to have a bit of fun.
The State Park is located near Murfreesboro which is just south of Hot Springs in Pike County, Arkansas. The park is open throughout the year.
The Crater of Diamonds volcanic pipe is part of a 95 million-year-old eroded volcano. The prior activity from this long dead volcano brought the diamonds to the surface. The diamonds had crystallized in the cratonic root of the continent long before, and were sampled by the magma as it rose to the surface.
The Park website is available at: http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com/
Some of the most notable diamonds found at the Crater of Diamonds Park include:
1917 Lee J. Wagner of the Arkansas Diamond Company - 17.86 carats (3.572 g), exceptional canary yellow (the uncut gem is on display in the National Museum of Natural History)1924 The Uncle Sam - at 40.23 carats (8.046 g), the largest diamond ever discovered in North America
1962 The Star of Murfreesboro 34.25 carats (6.850 g)
1978 Betty Lamle - 8.61 carat “Lamle Diamond” (third largest found since 1972)
1981 Carroll Blankenship - 8.82 carat “Star of Shreveport” (second largest found since 1972)
1990 Shirley Strawn - 3.09 carat “Strawn-Wagner Diamond” - cut to 1.09 carats in 1997, and graded a “perfect” 0/0/0 by the American Gem Society in 1998, making it the first diamond ever to receive such an AGS grading. Currently on exhibit at the park.
1991 Joe Fedzora - 6.23 carat “Bleeding Heart Diamond” - brownish yellow
1997 Richard Cooper - 6.72 carat “Cooper Diamond” - unusual deep purplish-brown.
2006 Marvin Culver - 4.21 carats “Okie Dokie Diamond” - deep canary yellow and flawless. Seen on Today Show, MSNBC, Inside Edition and Travel Channel and published in Lost Treasure magazine (twice), Western and Eastern Treasures magazine, Mineralogical Record and Rocks & Minerals. Arguably the most publicized diamond from the Crater.
2006 Bob Wehle - 5.47 carat “Sunshine Diamond” - deep canary yellow and flawless.
2006 Donald and Brenda Roden - 6.35 carat “Roden Diamond” — honey-brown.
2007 Eric Blake - 3.93 carats (786 mg), tea-colored
2007 Chad Johnson - 4.38 carats (876 mg) tea-colored diamond
The Crater of Diamonds is indeed a great place to visit and, who knows, you might find the diamond of a lifetime there!
