A French tourist discovered a massive 7.46-carat diamond after he stopped off at an Arkansas state park during a road trip this month.
Julien Navas, from Paris, found the massive rock on the surface of Crater of Diamonds State Park while scouring the 37.5-acre search area on Jan. 11, state officials said.
He was in the US to witness a rocket launch in Florida before he had plans with a buddy to check out Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
But on the way, he learned about the Razorback State’s world famous state park known for its bling and wanted to make a pit stop, park officials said.
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Navas, who has previously panned for gold and searched for ammonite fossils, rented a basic diamond hunting kit and began digging through mud after pounding rain hit the area days earlier.
“That is back-breaking work so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out,” Navas said.