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MURFREESBORO, AR (KFSM) — A Fayetteville man has found the third-largest diamond of the year (4.49-Carat) at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.
34-year-old Steven McCool discovered the diamond on Halloween. He said he was planning on going back to Fayetteville but extended his stay in Murfreesboro since there had been good rain, and conditions were optimal to find a diamond.
After sifting through dirt, McCool was able to find a small glass-like object just 30 minutes before the park closed.
“As my eyes were panning to it, I was thinking it could be an amber piece of glass like an old Coke bottle,” McCool said. “Once I focused on it, though, I knew it was a diamond. I was like, ‘No way! No way!’”
After evaluation, it was confirmed that McCool had found a 4.49-carat sparkling canary yellow diamond about the size of a jellybean.
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.
“Arkansas is the only state in the country that has a diamond mine open to the public,” said Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst. “While many diamonds are found every year, it never ceases to be exciting! I hope Mr. McCool’s story inspires even more people to visit Crater of Diamonds State Park.”
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