Father and daughter discover a rare diamond
Father and daughter duo stumble upon a 2 carat diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park
When Dan Frederick and his daughter, Lauren went to the Crater of Diamonds State Park they didn’t expect to find anything like what they did on 3 October 2016. The adventure seeking duo made a day trip to the Crater of Diamonds State Park; a 911-acre park in America where you’re able to mine for real diamonds. Unlike, the thousands of visitors to the Crater of Diamonds State Park Dan and Lauren have managed to hit it big. On the day of their visit to the park the two went treasure hunting and found a 2 carat colourless diamond. The best part of their discovery? They get to keep the remarkable diamond and take it home.
The Crater of Diamonds State Park is a 911-acre park in America where you’re able to mine for real diamonds
The state park revealed that Dan and his daughter, Lauren found the fascinating diamond at the Star of Arkansas diamond marker on the north end of the park’s 37.5-acre search area. The two of them managed to stumble upon the diamond in less than an hour. The other fascinating part is that Dan and Lauren have never been to the park before and only decided to go after Googling “places to find gems”. “My dad and I have always loved to hunt for gems; we’ve dug for sapphires and garnets and always search for agates when we’re on the Washington coast. Naturally, we had always wanted to go to Arkansas to dig for diamonds,” Lauren said.
Dan and his daughter, Lauren found the diamond in less than an hour
The two of them are still amazed by the remarkable discovery they came across during their visit. “As much as we have talked about the trip and planned it out, I think we’re still kind of in shock that we found something as big and beautiful as our ‘Lucky Diamond.’” The park officials revealed after a rainy day heavy diamonds become more visible to the eye. The reason? When it rains, the dirt on the diamond is washed away making it more sparkly and visible to the park-goers.
The rare find has most certainly given other diamond hunters, who visit the park hope to find a diamond of their own. “Dan Frederick has proven, once again, that it is possible to find large, beautiful diamonds while surface searching. This is an example of a diamond that all park visitors dream of taking home,” said park interpreter Betty Coors.
Lauren added that the treasure-hunting trip with her dad remains to be one of her favourite memories with her dad. “We were so excited with our find that we actually walked around the park for another seven hours with the diamond in my dad’s pocket, trying to find another one. It really was the cherry on top of a fun and special trip with my dad,” Lauren said.
The two diamond hunters are not the only ones to stumble upon such a rare find in the Crater of Diamonds State Park. Here’s a list of people who managed to recently hit it big while visiting the park in America:
- On September 18 a man named, Kyle Sisson from Kansas found a 3 pt. colourless diamond.
Mike Ellison of Kings Mountain found a 9 pt. colourless diamond on 19 September
On 21 September, Colt Young of Arizona discovered an 8 pt. brown diamond
T.J. Richardson of Greenwood, Arizona stumbled upon a 3 pt. yellow diamond on 25 September
- On 26 September there were two discoveries; Roy King from Texas found a 4 pt. colourless diamond and Connie and Rusty Gray of West Virginia found a 4 pt. colourless diamond.
- Connie and Rusty Gray managed to find another 23 pt. yellow diamond on 27 September.
- On 28 September, Steve Allender of Vinton came across a 3 pt. colourless diamond.
- There were a lot of discoveries on 1 October. Sarah Coleman of Atlanta stumbled upon a 67 pt. colourless diamond; Joey Barnett from Arizona found a 9 pt. yellow diamond, and Amber McCartney from Texas discovered a 16 pt. colourless diamond.
Many adventure seekers have travelled a very far way to visit the famous park in America. Their hopes? Only to find a remarkable gemstone and take it home, just like the treasure hunting duo, Dan and his daughter, Lauren. For a South African diamond journey of your own, make sure to visit the Cape Town Diamond Museum for your personally guided tour. For bookings click here.
