French Man Finds Luck After All-Day Mining at State Park
A French tourist got lucky by finding a 7.46-carat diamond in a U.S. state park.
On the 25th (local time), local media including ABC News in the U.S. reported that Julien Navas, who lives in Paris, France, discovered a diamond while visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Navas visited the state park on the 11th. After renting a related kit and searching for diamonds all day, he literally struck it rich.
A French tourist is holding a 7.46-carat diamond they discovered at Crater of Diamonds State Park. [Image source=Social Networking Service (SNS) capture]
Navas said, "I was usually interested in finding gold and ammonite fossils, but I heard that there are many diamonds in this park, so I decided to visit." He added, "After digging hard all day looking for gems, I found something noticeably shining on the ground that afternoon," expressing his joy.
According to the park's appraisal, what Navas found was a 7.46-carat brownish diamond. This diamond is the largest found in the park since 2020 and the eighth largest discovered since the park opened in 1972. Park manager Waymon Cox explained, "It rained a few days before Navas visited the park, and this environment seems to have helped in finding the diamond."
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only open-pit mine-style park in the U.S., and it was developed in earnest after a farmer named John Huddleston discovered a rough diamond in 1906. After several ownership changes, the park has been operated by the state of Arkansas since 1972. Visitors can experience mining here, and nearly 800 diamonds are found annually through this activity. Visitors pay an entrance fee to enter the park and can keep any gems they find.
Every year, various notable stories emerge from this park. Last September, a 7-year-old girl who visited the park for her birthday found a 2.95-carat diamond, and last month, a man from Lepanto, Arkansas, picked up a 4.87-carat diamond just 10 minutes after arriving. At that time, the man thought the stone was a piece of glass because it was so transparent, but after having it appraised, he learned it was a diamond.
Besides diamonds, other gems such as amethyst and garnet are also found in this park. Notably, an 8.52-carat diamond discovered here in 2015 was sold for as much as 1 million dollars (about 1.3 billion KRW).
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