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8-carat diamond found in Arkansas park
The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro has yielded another impressive piece of rough: an 8.52-carat stone that is among the largest diamonds ever found there.
Seen here next to a quarter, the diamond is about three-quarters of an inch long and the same diameter as a No. 2 pencil, park officials said. Click below to see a larger image of the stone.
Murfreesboro, Ark.--Officials from the Crater of Diamonds State Park reported that another large piece of rough has surfaced, an 8.52-carat white stone that is among the largest diamonds ever recovered there.
Described by park officials as “clear white and icicle-shaped,” a visitor from Longmont, Colo., Bobbie Oskarson, found the gem on Wednesday while visiting the park with her boyfriend.
Park officials said she plans to keep the diamond and has dubbed it “Esparanza,” the name of her niece and the Spanish word for hope.
The Esparanza is the fourth largest diamond found since the Crater became a state park in 1972 and ranks among the largest stones ever discovered at the gem-producing site, which is located in southwest Arkansas and also yields amethyst, peridot, garnet and quartz, among other stones.
It also is the 227th diamond found in the park this year. Park official Waymon Cox said more than 30 of those stones were found on the surface due to heavy spring rains, including the 3.69-carat rough diamond park visitor named Susie Clark found in April and dubbed the “Hallelujah Diamond.”
The largest diamond that’s known to have been discovered at the site is the “Uncle Sam,” a 40.23-carat white diamond with a “pink cast” found in 1924--years before the site officially became a state park.
The Uncle Sam remains the largest diamond ever discovered in the United States.
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