Arkansas crater of diamonds

4.68 Sweet Caroline diamond tops list of large Crater finds in 2008

Happy New Year from Crater of Diamonds State Park! 2008 was a great year for diamond finds, with more than 900 stones recovered, totaling nearly 200 carats! At the top of the list were the finders of five beautiful diamonds weighing more than two carats, each with a unique story that made headlines during the year!

The first of these came in April, a busy month for diamond discoveries that saw 119 diamonds registered. On April 14, a Tennessee visitor brought in the first two-carat-plus diamond of the year, a 2.67-carat white gem found on the surface of the search area! The stone had an interesting “nesting” pattern made on its facets when the diamond was created that gave it a unique, beautiful appearance.


This Tennessean’s treasure held the record of the year’s largest diamond for nearly three months before nine-year-old Matthew Smith of Dallas, Texas visited the Crater on July 12.

Minutes after entering the search area for the first time, Matthew picked up a shining jewel near Beatty’s Hill. After searching for diamonds another hour, he brought the stone to the Diamond Discovery Center and was surprised to learn that it was a very large brown diamond, weighing 2.75 carats! He named his cola-colored crystal the Brown-Eyed Beauty, after his mother’s and sister’s eye color.




The following month, an even larger diamond was certified when Denis Tyrrell of Murfreesboro discovered a stunning 4.42-carat white diamond on the morning of August 15. A “regular” to the Crater since 2007, this was the largest diamond he had ever found while sluicing at the park. He named the rectangular rock the Star of Kimberly, after his wife.



Even larger than the Star of Kimberly was a diamond found in September by a first-time visitor. Flint, Michigan resident Richard Burke drove all the way from a vacation in Colorado, where he had been fossil hunting and gold panning with his wife, to try his luck at Crater of Diamonds State Park. On the morning of September 20, he left a note for his sleeping wife in their camper stating, “I’ve gone to find you the big one!” Before lunch that Saturday, he had done just that. While exploring the search area’s West Drain, Richard knocked some dirt loose from the side of a small trench cut by recent rain, and out popped a 4.68-carat white diamond. He named the stone Sweet Caroline, after his wife and their song, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
As fall came to Southwest Arkansas, colder temperatures slowed visitation at the park. However, the year’s fifth-largest diamond remained to be found. The day came on November 16, when Baton Rouge resident Rhonda Bankston found a white 2.09-carat beauty while searching near the famous 40.23-carat Uncle Sam diamond marker. Like many visitors, Rhonda had first learned about Crater of Diamonds State Park through Travel Channel’s “The Best Places to Find Cash and Treasures.” She found the diamond during the second day of a week-long camping trip she made with a friend. Named the Dream Angel, the tooth-sized gem had a flawless, icy appearance to it in the sunlight.

2008 was an exciting year for us here at Crater of Diamonds, but we are looking forward to 2009 with great excitement for what diamonds await discovery in the year to come!

Diamond Finds for December 22 – 28, 2008

December 22 – Glenn Worthington, Springdale, AR, 1 pt. white, 1 pt. white, 3 pt. white, 6 pt. white

December 26 – Billy Moore, Alma, AR, 2 pt. yellow, 4 pt. white, 5 pt. white, 6 pt. white, 27 pt. brown

December 27 – Justin Pope, Downsville, LA, 26 pt. white

December 28 – Don Landrum, Texarkana, TX, 32 pt. white; Rupal Patel, Homer, LA, 83 pt. brown

so, how are you such an expert, being able to "tell all like it is?" from my previous post, there were five 2+ carrat stones found, two over 4 carrats and 200+ reported carats found this year. a 40+ and many other huge stones have also been found there. most of these were found by day trippers. judging by that, if someone figured out 'the way' to do it and did it all the time, logic would conclude that one could live off that. where's the 'nothing to back it up' 'fish tales.' you speak of. my previous post came from the park's newsletter. nah, that just can't be a credible source.

what's your beef with the crater of diamonds anyway?

One man's misery is another man's paradise,,,,

I'd be happy living in a shack, driving an old pickup and eating beans if I got to live in the Ouachita Mountains, rise every morning in the clean, crisp air, have nature all around me, bathe in the rivers, hike in the woods, catch fish and dig for diamonds, amethyst and quartz every day. In fact, Id think myself divinely blessed.

As far as the kids going to college, the deal is this,,,if you really want to go, study hard, make the grades, and secure a scholarship. That's exactly what my daughter did. If you choose not to go, that's cool, too. It is my job to raise you and to love you, not to provide you with a living. I'll always help you, but I won't do it FOR you. Decide what you want to do, live an honest life, and go for it. Mama backs your play 100%.