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SourcingSep 24, 2020
A Visitor Just Uncovered This 9-Carat Diamond in Arkansas
It’s the second largest find since Crater of Diamonds became a state park in 1972.
The 9.07-carat diamond recovered by visitor Kevin Kinard at Crater of Diamonds State Park was described as “very large, with a brandy brown color.”
Murfreesboro, Ark.—Kevin Kinard has visited Crater of Diamonds regularly since second grade, and his persistence finally paid off.
On Labor Day, the Maumelle, Arkansas resident uncovered a 9.07-carat at the state park, the second largest in its history.
Kinard said he and his friends brought equipment to wet sift but he preferred to search the surface.
“I only wet sifted for about 10 minutes before I started walking up and down the plowed rows. Anything that looked like a crystal, I picked it up and put it in my bag,” he told the park.
While he was looking in the southeast part of the park’s diamond search area, Kinard picked up a “marble-sized crystal” with a rounded, dimpled shape that he thought might just be glass.
After searching for a few hours, Kinard and his friends went to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where the park staff identifies visitor finds and registers diamonds.
Kinard said he almost didn’t have them check his finds since he didn’t think he had found anything of note, but since his friend was having hers checked, he decided to do it too.
An employee set that rounded, dimpled crystal aside for closer examination and sure enough, after a few minutes, park managers took Kinard into the office to tell him he had scored a diamond weighing more than 9 carats.
Assistant Superintendent Dru Edmonds described the stone as “very large, with a brandy brown color. It has a rounded, dewdrop shape and a metallic shine typical of all Crater diamonds.”
Kinard chose to honor his friends with the name of his diamond, calling it the Kinard Friendship Diamond.
The 9.07-carat diamond is the second largest found at the park since Crater of Diamonds was named an Arkansas state park in 1972.
The only bigger find during that time is the 16.37-carat white “Amarillo Starlight,” discovered in August 1975.
The previous record for the second-largest diamond belonged to the 8.81-carat white Star of Shreveport discovered in 1981.
Crater said 246 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park so far in 2020, weighing a total of 59.25 carats.
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