US State Park Lets Visitors Hunt For Diamonds - And They Can Keep What They Find

The stories of treasure hunts are often heard with great enthusiasm. The narration take listeners to a world where they start seeing themselves as treasure hunters. Several movies, both in Hollywood and in India, have shown characters crossing hurdles, successfully overcoming life-threatening challenges to reach their goal. But there is a park in the United States where visitors can find real diamonds in their volcanic state. It is known as the Diamonds State park and is located in the state of Arkansas.

In December 2023, a man from Arkansas found a 4.87-carat diamond. According to CNN, Jerry Evans visited the park with his girlfriend in spring and picked up what he thought was a piece of glass.

Though he pocketed the pyramid-shaped find, he wasn't sure if it was a diamond, Evans said in a news release posted on the park's website.

"It was so clear. I really didn't know. We were picking up everything thinking it was a diamond," said Mr Evans.

After reaching home, he sent the jelly bean-sized object to Gemological Institute of America that informed him he had found a near-colourless diamond.

"When they called and told me it was real, I was tickled to death!" he said.

Mr Evans' diamond became the largest one registered at the park since Labour Day of 2020, when Kevin Kinard of Maumelle, Arkansas, found a 9.07-carat brown diamond there, according to park officials.

Earlier known as Crater of Diamonds, the area became a park in 1972, the CNN report said. Visitors find an average of one or two diamonds there daily. In 2023, 798 diamonds totalling more than 125 carats have been registered at the park.

The website of the state park said that diamonds of all colours are found there, but the three main ones are white, brown, and yellow. Amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, quartz, and other rocks and minerals naturally occur here.