NeerDoWellBlog: Crater of Diamonds State Park

The Arkansas Diamond Mine at Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only producing diamond mine in the United States and the only diamond mine in the world open to the public.

Diamonds were first discovered in 1906 when John Huddlestone found two strange crystals in the soil of his farm. His farm was right above a volcanic pipe filled with lamproite.

http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com/

Word of the discovery leaked out and a "diamond rush" began. Soon thousands of people descended upon the Murfreesboro area, however, the Huddlestone farm and immediately adjacent land was the only location with promise of becoming a diamond mine. The diamond-bearing pipe was several hundred yards in diameter. There are other volcanic pipes in the area but they have yet to yield more than a few diamonds.

Prior to Huddlestone's discovery, geologists at the Arkansas State Geological Survey suspected that diamonds might occur in the greenish peridotite soils near Murfreesboro because they were similar to the soils above the African diamond deposits. They did fieldwork in the area but did not find any diamonds.

Since the park opened in 1972 there have been about 30,000 reported diamond finds. Most of the diamonds found are very small - too small for cutting into a mountable stone. The 30,000 stones reported have an aggregate weight of a little under 6,000 carats, making the average stone about twenty points (.20 carat) in weight.

Although most stones found are small, some spectacular specimens have been found.

The "Uncle Sam Diamond", the largest diamond ever found in North America, was found there in 1924. This pale brown, 40.23 carat stone was found in 1924 by W. O. Bassum. It was cut into an emerald-cut gem weighing 12.42 carats which was sold in 1971 for $150,000.

The largest diamond ever found by a park visitor was a 16.37-carat white diamond found in 1975, named the "Amarillo Starlight".

The 4.25-carat "Kahn Canary" was worn by first lady Hillary Clinton at her husband's Presidential Inaugural galas in 1993 and 1997 as a special way to represent Arkansas's diamond site. The diamond's owner, Stan Kahn of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, loaned the diamond to Mrs. Clinton.

The "Strawn-Wagner Diamond" was found in 1990 by Shirley Strawn. This 3.09 carat stone was cut into a 1.09 carat brilliant-cut gem. It was the first stone to receive a perfect grade of 0/0/0 by the American Gem Society.

A number of beautiful canary-colored diamonds have been found at the Park. The most famous is the "Okie Dokie Diamond" found in 2006 by Marvin Culver.