kristin
03-13-2007, 02:08 PM
Eight-Year-Olds Unearth 2.5-carat Diamond in Arkansas
(March 12, '07, 6:23 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)
Texas twins Grace and Garrett Duncan unearthed a 2.5-carat diamond Saturday after six hours of digging in neighboring Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park.
According to park interpreter Rachel Engebrecht, the kids did not realize that they had dug up a diamond, dismissing it initially as a piece of worthless mica. It was later confirmed as a very light brown diamond. Eight-year-old Garrett says that he knew it was a diamond all along.
Crater of Diamonds State Park, 190 kilometers from Arkansas’ capital Little Rock, is the only diamond-producing site in the world open to the public. The first diamond was found in the area by a local farmer in 1906. After a subsequent diamond rush, the land was purchased by the State of Arkansas.
An average of two diamonds is found at the park every day. The largest was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight, a white diamond found by a visitor from Texas in 1975.
(March 12, '07, 6:23 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)
Texas twins Grace and Garrett Duncan unearthed a 2.5-carat diamond Saturday after six hours of digging in neighboring Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park.
According to park interpreter Rachel Engebrecht, the kids did not realize that they had dug up a diamond, dismissing it initially as a piece of worthless mica. It was later confirmed as a very light brown diamond. Eight-year-old Garrett says that he knew it was a diamond all along.
Crater of Diamonds State Park, 190 kilometers from Arkansas’ capital Little Rock, is the only diamond-producing site in the world open to the public. The first diamond was found in the area by a local farmer in 1906. After a subsequent diamond rush, the land was purchased by the State of Arkansas.
An average of two diamonds is found at the park every day. The largest was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight, a white diamond found by a visitor from Texas in 1975.