A seven-year-old girl has found a 2.95-carat golden brown diamond in a state park in Arkansas.
The girl, Aspen Brown, was celebrating her birthday on September 1 at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, when she made the shocking discovery.
According to a press release from the park, “Brown’s find is the second-largest registered by a park guest this year, topped only by a 3.29-carat brown diamond discovered in March.”
“A contracted company dug a 150-yard trench in August to help manage erosion on the north side of the search area,” said Caleb Howell, park superintendent. “Several tons of unsearched diamond-bearing material were exposed and it’s very possible that this diamond and others were uncovered as a result. “
The park explained that Brown was at the park with her father and grandmother when they made their way to the north side of the 37.5-acre diamond search area.
The area consists of a plowed field on top of the eroded surface of an ancient diamond-bearing volcano.
The girl’s father, Luther Brown, said, “She got hot and wanted to sit down for a minute, so she walked over to some big rocks by the fence line. Next thing I know, she was running to me, saying ‘Dad! Dad! I found one!’”
The diamond is said to be about the size of a green pea.
“Aspen’s diamond has a golden-brown color and a sparkling luster. It is a complete crystal, with no broken facets and a small crevice on one side, created when the diamond was formed,” said Waymon Cox, assistant park superintendent. “It’s certainly one of the most beautiful diamonds I’ve seen in recent years.”
The girl named the gem the “Aspen Diamond.”
“There was no skill required for her to find it. She was just in the right place at the right time,” her father said.
The press release says, “The Aspen Diamond was found close to where another large diamond, the 3.72-carat Caro Avenger, was discovered in 2019. As of press time, 563 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park in 2023, totaling more than 89 carats. An average of one to two diamonds are found by park visitors each day.”
“In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were discovered by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became a state park in 1972. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an early mining operation on the land that later became the state park.”
The park is one of the only places in the world where visitors can freely search for diamonds in their original volcanic source.
