Diamond Hunter Discovers 2.42-Carat Gem at Crater of Diamonds State Park

Arkansas State Parks 

James Archer of Nashville, Arkansas regularly prospects for diamonds at nearby Crater of Diamonds State Park, the state's diamond site in southwest Arkansas near Murfreesboro. He's well known to visitors at the park, and generously shares his knowledge of diamonds and diamond hunting with other park prospectors. One of his standard sayings as he searches for diamonds is, "Be there rock." Today, at 1:00 p.m. while Archer was washing material in his sarucca screen, a rock was there -- a 2.42-carat white diamond about the size of a peanut. The diamond is an octahedral shape which looks like two pyramids joined at their bases.

This is the largest of the 188 diamonds found at the park so far this year since January, and the ninth of these diamonds weighing over a carat.

According to Park Superintendent Michael Hall, "As we saw Mr. Archer approaching the park visitor center from the diamond search area, we knew he had either a good quality stone or a big diamond. He just doesn't leave the search area this time of the day unless he's got something."

Hall noted that one side of Archer's octahedral-shape diamond is very nice and has the distinctive, pyramid shape, whereas the other side was not as well formed. He said, "The diamonds here at the Crater are usually more round, like a polished stone. Mr. Archer's diamond is a shape we see less often."

Archer's diamond was found in the new search area that opened in the park on June 30. This additional acre of search area brought the total acreage of the diamond field to 37 ½ acres.

According to Hall, "Part of our park master plan for improving the Crater is to help our visitors find more diamonds. The new expanded search area is in a locale called the East Drain, a low drainage area located on the southeast side of the park's diamond field. It includes the tailings of mining attempts in the early part of the 20th century, and it is an area where rainwater naturally washes diamonds into this low spot."

He continued, "To create more search area in the East Drain, we cleared approximately one-acre of land and then pushed the top three feet of topsoil off to a new location just west." Hall said, "By removing the topsoil, we exposed more diamonds down below. Plus, we made the relocated material easier in which to search. Eight diamonds have been found in this area since it opened on June 30."

Park visitors search a plowed field that is the eroded surface of an ancient, gem-bearing volcanic pipe. It is the eighth largest diamond deposit in the world, and is the only diamond site where the public is allowed to search and keep any gems found.

Over 70,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater since the first gems found in 1906, long before the state park was established here in 1972. The largest diamond ever discovered in the U. S. was unearthed here in 1924. Named the "Uncle Sam," this white diamond weighed 40.23 carats. Other 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 22,000 discovered since the Crater became an Arkansas state park is the 16.37-carat "Amarillo Starlight." A visitor from Amarillo, Texas found this white diamond on the surface of the diamond field 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.

Diamonds may be any of several colors. The most common colors found at Crater of Diamonds are white, brown and yellow, in that order. Other semi-precious gems and minerals found at the park include amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite and quartz. The over 40 different rocks and minerals that are unearthed at the Crater make it a rock-hound's delight.

Crater of Diamonds is one of Arkansas' 51 state parks. The park is located two miles southeast of Murfreesboro on Arkansas 301.