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You Can Find A Diamond In The Park!
Rapaport Wire Service reports this morning that anyone willing to dig for diamonds can do so at Arkansas State Park!
Some 700 diamond finds have been in excess of 1 carat, but the largest diamond found so far weighs 40.23 carats (unearthed in 1924.) The largest diamond of late was 7.28 carats found by a vacationer in 1998.
According to park officials, the Crater of Diamonds is a result of one volcanic eruption about 100 million years ago that pushed diamonds up to the surface near a town known today as Murfreesboro, Arkansas. In 1949 an attempt was made to open the area up to the public after decades of private ownership. It opened as the Diamond Preserve of the United States in 1951. In 1969, General Earth Minerals of Dallas, Texas, bought the land as a private tourist attraction until 1972, when Arkansas bought the land for a state park for $750,000.
Thirty-seven acres of land are available for visitors to explore, and the park re-plows the land each month to help bring more diamonds to the surface. During summer months (late May through early September) park officials teach visitors diamond mining, and offer nature programs and a children's mining camp. In spring and fall the park offers mining demonstrations.
Admission for adults is $6, and children ages 6-12 pay $3. Park hours are 8:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend into Labor Day weekend, and the park closes at 5:00 p.m. during the remainder of the year. Crater of Diamonds State Park is about 60 miles southwest of Little Rock, Arkansas, (off Interstate 30.)
Happy Hunting!
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