After years of searching Arkansas park, man finds 2.38-carat diamond

MURFREESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - For more than a decade, Adam Hardin has scoured the fields at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Recently, his efforts were rewarded when he found a 2.38-carat diamond, the largest one found at the park this year.

According to a Tuesday news release, Hardin was wet-sifting soil from the East Drain when he found the gem.

“It was right in the middle when I flipped my screen over,” Hardin said. “When I saw it, I said, ‘Wow! That’s a big diamond!’”

Hardin took his discovery to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center where staff registered the brown diamond.

“Mr. Hardin’s diamond is about the size of a pinto bean, with a coffee brown color and a rounded shape,” said Waymon Cox, park interpreter.

Hardin’s diamond is the largest found at the park since last September when a California visitor found a 4.38-carat yellow diamond.

He said he plans to sell the gem, which he has named “Frankenstone.”