Regular park visitor finds 2.38-carat brown diamond

A visitor found a 2.38-carat brown diamond on April 10 at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park, which is the largest diamond found at the park this year.

After more than a decade of searching and hundreds of diamond finds at the park, Adam Hardin found his first diamond weighing more than two carats. 

Park Interpreter Waymon Cox said many visitors wet sift using a screen set to wash away soil and separate the gravel by size. Smaller gravel is then sorted by weight, sending heavier material to the bottom of the screen.

Hardin carried his gem in a pill bottle to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff registered it as a 2.38-carat brown diamond.

Hardin, who first learned of Crater of Diamonds State Park more than a decade ago, said competition builds camaraderie among the park’s regular visitors.

Hardin named his diamond Frankenstone.

Hardin typically sells his diamonds locally and said he also plans to sell this one.

As of today, 260 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park in 2022, weighing a total of more than 44 carats. An average of one to two diamonds are found by park visitors each day.