Arkansas man finds 3.29-carat

An Arkansas man discovered a 3.29-carat brown diamond on the Crater of Diamonds State Park earlier this month. It’s the largest diamond discovered within the park since September 2021, the park mentioned in an announcement. 

David Anderson, an everyday customer to the park, discovered the diamond on Mar. 4 whereas looking out by soil within the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search space. He named his discovery B.U.D., which he mentioned stands for “Large, Ugly Diamond.” 

Anderson mentioned he initially thought the stone was quartz. It was recognized as a brown diamond with a pitted floor. Brown, yellow and white diamonds are the commonest ones discovered within the Crater of Diamonds park. 

“Mr. Anderson’s diamond is concerning the dimension of an English pea, with a light-weight brown shade and octahedron form,” mentioned park interpreter Tayler Markham within the park’s assertion. “It has a metallic shine typical of all diamonds discovered on the park, with {a partially} resorbed floor and plenty of inclusions.”

The park was shaped in 1972, however the diamond area was present in 1906. Since then, over 75,000 diamonds have been discovered there. Since 2007, Anderson has discovered greater than 400 diamonds, together with 15 weighing over one carat, the park mentioned in an announcement. He has additionally discovered a 3.83-carat yellow diamond in 2011 and a 6.19-carat white gem in 2014. Anderson sometimes sells his diamonds regionally, the park mentioned, and has the identical plans for this stone. 

As of March 2023, 124 diamonds had been registered as having been discovered on the state park this yr. A median of 1 to 2 diamonds are discovered by guests every day, the park mentioned.