MURFREESBORO, Ark. (KARK) – A young explorer made a nice discovery at an Arkansas park last Friday.
Officials with Arkansas State Parks said 7-year-old Aspen Brown, of Paragould, dug out a 2.95-carat golden brown diamond from Crater of Diamonds State Park during a trip on Sept. 1.
In a news release detailing the find, officials with the department said Brown was celebrating her birthday with her dad and grandmother at the park.
“She got hot and wanted to sit down for a minute, so she walked over to some big rocks by the fence line,” her father, Luther Brown, said. “Next thing I know, she was running to me, saying ‘Dad! Dad! I found one!’”
Brown’s diamond was the second-largest discovered at the park this year, after a 3.29-carat diamond was found in March. But after inspection, a superintendent at the park called Brown’s diamond “one of the most beautiful” he’s seen in years.
The Murfreesboro park is one of the only locations in the world where the public can search for real diamonds. It has a 37-acre field where visitors find and can keep a variety of rocks, minerals and gemstones from the one-time volcanic crater.
Park officials state that more than 35,000 diamonds have been found since the state park was established in 1972. According to park officials, a notable find was the 40.23-carat Uncle Sam diamond discovered in 1924. It remains the largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States.
