Spur-Of-The-Minute Detour at U.S.' Diamonds State Park Led Visitor to 'Real Great Adventure', Finds 7.46-Carat Brown Diamond
A man from France struck a 'diamond' after a random search in Arkansas. Julien Navas, a Paris resident, visited the Crater of Diamonds State Park after taking a detour to New Orleans, during his U.S. trip, CNN reported. Due to his experience as a prospector, the park intrigued him, as he heard about it containing many precious stones.
After some digging, one of those stones was in his hands. The stone was found to be a 7.46-carat brown diamond, the eighth-largest diamond unearthed in the particular area since it became a state park in 1972. Arkansas State Parks came out with a statement regarding this discovery.
Arkansas State Parks stated that Navas came to the U.S. to witness the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur Rocket launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. After the launch, he came to New Orleans with a friend and heard of the Crater of Diamonds State Park.
On January 11, he purchased a ticket to enter the facilities and rented a basic diamond hunting kit from the park authorities. "I got to the park around nine o’clock and started to dig," Navas said. "That is back-breaking work so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out."
A few days before Navas' visit, the park had received some inches of rain, which aided the man in his search, according to Arkansas State Parks. "We periodically plow the search area to loosen the diamond-bearing soil and promote natural erosion," Assistant Park Superintendent, Waymon Cox, explained regarding the importance of rain. "As rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals, and diamonds near the surface."
Navas searched the park for hours and found many things, Arkansas State Parks mentioned. He took all of them to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where he was informed that amongst his findings, is a brown diamond weighing 7.46 carats. The Parisian was stunned upon hearing the news. "I am so happy! All I can think about is telling my fiancée what I found," he later said.
The diamond found by Navas was described by authorities as being deep chocolate brown in color and round in shape, Arkansas State Parks announced. Navas has named the find Carine Diamond, after his fiancée. He wants to cut the whole diamond into two and gift one to his daughter and the other to his fiancée.