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Release time: 2021-10-07 11:10:55 Update time: 2021-10-07 16:00:22
Published on October 7, 2021 at 11:10 a.m. EDT, updated on October 7, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. EDT
State and national parks can provide a lot of exciting discoveries. You never know when you will encounter wildlife in natural habitats, breathtaking scenery, or-if you are as lucky as the nearest state park visitor-a gem worth thousands of dollars.
California residents Noreen and Michael Wredberg like to travel and visit national parks. In September, when Noreen recalled seeing Diamond Crater State Park on a TV show a few years ago, the couple was exploring Arkansas. It is the only state park in the United States that has a diamond mine open to the public.
"When I realized we were too far away, I knew we had to come," she told Arkansas State Park.
As many tourists do, Wredbergs rents shovels and buckets to mine diamonds. The weather was a bit sunny, so Michael suggested that they leave the shadow of the mine entrance and move to a sunny field.
This is the post from Arkansas State Park announcing her discovery:
Noreen Wredberg found the 4.38 carat yellow diamond within an hour of searching. This is the largest diamond found in Diamond Pit State Park so far this year. Read her story: https://t.co/Pcy8YDJV03 #ARStateParks #Diamonds pic.twitter.com/rFSHa8UCRd
— Arkansas State Park (@ARStatePark) September 30, 2021
Noreen’s knees started to hurt from kneeling on the rugged dirt, so she chose to stand up and walk around the field. Whenever she saw something flickering on the ground, she would check it out, but found a few stones. However, finally, about 40 minutes later, she saw the flash, pushed away the soil on the rock, and found a shiny pale yellow stone.
"I didn't know it was a diamond at the time," she told Arkansas State Park, "but it was clean and shiny, so I picked it up!"
Michael Wredberg took it to the diamond discovery center in the park for identification.
"When I saw this diamond under a microscope for the first time," Park Supervisor Caleb Howell said, "I thought,'Wow, what a beautiful shape and color!' Mrs. Wredberg's diamond weighs more than 4 carats. It is large and soft. The sugar is almost the same, pear-shaped and lemon-yellow in color."
The heavy rain a few days ago may have unearthed stones enough for lucky searchers to find it.
"We really didn't expect we would find one," Noreen Wredberg said, "not to mention something such a big one!"
Insiders reported that she would be able to keep the diamond and named it Lucy's Diamond after her husband’s kitten. She still doesn't know what she will do with it.
Since a farmer named John Huddleston first discovered diamonds there in 1906, more than 75,000 diamonds have been discovered in the Diamond Crater, including the largest diamond ever discovered in the United States. This 40.23 carat pink white diamond was unearthed in 1924.
Arkansas State Park pointed out in a tweet that these findings are possible because the state park is located on the site of the volcanic tube. Diamonds form 100 miles underground, and a molten material called magnesite brings them to the surface.
At Diamond Crater State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, visitors can look for real diamonds in volcanic tubes. Waymon Cox, the park narrator, showed us the fascinating stories told by volcanic rocks. https://t.co/1ERRZjVnhJ #ARStateParks #Diamonds
— Arkansas State Park (@ARStatePark) September 14, 2021
The park says that visitors will find one or two diamonds there on average every day.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for more stories.
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