Breaking: The discovery of ‘The Limitless Diamond’

April 20th, 2014 by Noam Flint

There is only one state park in existence that follows a “finders, keepers” policy with gemstones: The Crater of Diamonds park in Arkansas.

Every year, throngs of people head to the 37.5-acre grounds in hopes of uncovering a valuable diamond, and for one fortunate man, this hunt was not fruitless.

According to UPI.com, David Anderson, who actually moved nearby to Murfreesboro, Ark., solely so he could constantly search for stones, uncovered a 6.19-carat white diamond. The news outlet noted that Park Interpreter Waymon Cox compared the size of the diamond to a jelly bean. Still, the park reportedly states that this is the 15th-largest diamond that has been discovered there since 1972.

In pursuit of sparkle

It all began when Anderson was watching the Travel Channel show “Best Places to Find Cash and Treasures.” After seeing The Crater of Diamonds State Park on an episode of the series, he made a trip to the park in 2007, according to ArkansasMatters.com. It didn’t take long for him to decide that he wanted to move to the area so that he could continue his search and increase his chances of uncovering a diamond.

SEE ALSO: A Trip to the State Park Earned her $20,000 Canary Yellow Diamond

While this recent find is certainly not his first – he has unearthed more than 400 diamonds at the park – it’s definitely the biggest in size. Anderson named the colorless marquise-shape stone “The Limitless Diamond” after Speed the Light’s motto for this year – and after selling the diamond, he will donate all proceeds to the same charitable organization.

One thing’s for sure: This stone is a stunner. However, Cox admitted that the timing of the discovery makes sense.

It’s no surprise that a large diamond was found this week. Over four inches of rain fell on the park last weekend, and David found his diamond on the first sunny day following the rain. Rainwater washes soil from the search area and often exposes heavy gravel and diamonds on the surface.” (as quoted by ArkansasMatters.com)

Cox also pointed out that this may have been the least effort Anderson has ever had to put into a search. He was only looking for about four hours in the East Drain area before he came across the diamond. Anderson had also never tried surface searching before, a method that the park describes as simply strolling through rows of dirt to look for stones that may be lying at the top.

Interesting facts about the crater

The Crater of Diamonds was established by John Huddleston in 1906, a farmer who owned the property at the time and is also responsible for the mining rush that occurred near Murfreesboro after he found the first few diamonds there. The site became an Arkansas state park in 1972. It’s the eighth-largest diamond-studded deposit in the world, but more importantly, it’s also the only diamond-producing site that is open to the public.

While white stones are the most common here, the park also bears brown diamonds and yellow diamonds as well. In fact, the selection here is quite diverse, with more than 40 types of rocks and minerals available on-site, including quartz, amethyst, jasper, peridot, garnet, lamproite and hematite.

The truth is that the majority of the stones found here are too small to cut, which is why The Crater of Diamonds site noted that many diamonds are merely set in jewelry in their raw form, often as a pendant on a necklace.

If you decide to make a visit to the park, there’s a decent chance you’ll uncover something dazzling, as ArkansasMatters.com reported that visitors find an average of two diamonds a day. Considering the recent find, you may want to keep an eye on the forecast for heavy rainfall.