Oklahoma Family Discovers Brown Diamond in Arkansas State Park

A family from Cookson, Oklahoma, recently made quite an exciting find during a visit to Arkansas State Park. On September 13, they stumbled upon a sizable diamond, an impressive discovery that park officials announced on September 23.

The family was in the area to celebrate the birthday of Madison’s nephew, William. They decided to stop by the park’s crater, a place known for gem hunting, hoping to dig up something interesting. Interestingly, they came prepared with beach drilling kits and sand sieve tools they picked up from a dollar store.

While digging north of the park’s designated diamond search area, the fun began. After sifting through some buckets of dirt, Madison spotted “an unusual rectangular shiny stone.” Initially, her reaction was along the lines of, “Wow, that’s cool!” but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

She later shared that upon seeing it, she thought, “Isn’t that too big to be a diamond?” It turned out to be a 2.79 carat brown diamond, which is quite significant for a state park.

Madison opted to name the gem “William Diamond” in honor of her nephew. Emma O’Neill, a park interpreter, added some scientific insight: “Brown diamonds from the crater are a result of a process called plastic deformation, which happens when structural defects form during the diamond’s journey through magma.” These defects, it seems, reflect different colored lights, giving the diamond its brown hue.

So far this year, Diamond State Park has seen 403 diamonds discovered, with four of those exceeding two carats. Earlier in 2023, some farmers in Minnesota found a diamond described as being “candy-like.” It’s amazing how treasures like this pop up unexpectedly, isn’t it? Just makes you think about what other surprises the earth might be hiding.