A French visitor to Crater of Diamonds State Park had an extremely profitable day when he uncovered a giant 7.46-carat diamond earlier this month. Julien Navas of Paris was in the US for the Vulcan Centaur Rocket Launch in Cape Canaveral when he decided to visit the Arkansas park, a 37-acre field where the public can search for diamonds in their original volcanic source.
According a news release by Arkansas State Parks, the area had received heavy rainfall in the days preceding Navas’s January 11 visit, making for muddy conditions which can improve diamond hunters’ chances.
“As rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals and diamonds near the surface,” explains Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox.
Navas says he arrived at the park at around 9 a.m. where he rented a basic diamond hunting kit and started to dig.
“That is back-breaking work so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out.”
After several hours, he took his haul to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where he was told he had uncovered the large brown diamond, which is described as deep chocolate brown color, rounded like a marble and about the size of a candy gumdrop.