Home LOCAL PARIS Bogata woman finds 3.72-carat yellow diamond at Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park

Bogata woman finds 3.72-carat yellow diamond at Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park

by MyParisTexas
0 comment

A last minute decision to visit the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas turned into the discovery of a lifetime for local woman, Miranda Hollingshead.

The 27-year old from Bogata, Texas dug up a 3.72-carat yellow diamond, which happens to be the biggest diamond discovered at the unique Arkansas park since March 2017.

“I was sitting in the shade, watching a YouTube video on how to find diamonds,” Hollingshead told Arkansas State Parks. “I looked over at my kid for a second, and when I looked down, I saw it mixed in with other rocks.”

Hollingshead had only been searching for an hour when she picked up the diamond and yelled to her mom, “I think I got one.”

After showing her mom and siblings, Hollingshead carried her find to the Diamond Discovery Center, where park staff registered it as a 3.72-carat yellow diamond.

Turns out, it was the largest yellow diamond found by a visitor since October 2013 when an Oklahoma City visitor picked up a 3.85-carat gem.

Hollingshead made the discovery on Aug. 16 at the base of a hill on the northeast side of the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area.

“Much of the ground where Ms. Hollingshead found her diamond is made of unweathered volcanic rock,” Park Interpreter Waymon Cox said in a statement. “When it rains, flowing runoff often leaves loose gravel, and sometimes diamonds, on the surface in these areas. Diamonds have a brilliant, adamantine luster that makes them easy to spot, and Ms. Hollingshead happened to be sitting in just the right place to see the diamond sparkle in the sun.”

“Every diamond found at the park is beautiful in its own way, and this one is certainly no exception. It’s about the size of a pencil eraser, with a light yellow color and a sparkling, metallic luster. Ms. Hollingshead said her gem’s unique shape reminded her of a rounded molar, with a small indentation in one end.”

After consulting with her son, Hollingshead chose to name the jewel Caro Avenger.

“He chose the name Caro, and I am a fan of superheroes, so it seemed like a good fit,” she told Arkansas State Parks.

When asked whether she plans to sell her gem or keep it as a souvenir, Hollingshead said if she doesn’t sell it, she’ll probably have it mounted in a ring.

Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three most common colors found at Crater of Diamonds State Park are white, brown, and yellow, in that order.

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.

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. It was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape and purchased by a private collector for $150,000 in 1971.

An 8.52-carat white diamond found at the park in 2015 was cut into a 4.6-carat triolette shape that was later valued at $500,000 by the American Gem Society.

Photos courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.

Related Articles