Tourist 'picks up' giant diamond in park

Julien Navas, who was visiting the US to witness the launch of the first US moon landing mission in decades from Cape Canaveral, Florida, also planned to visit New Orleans, and along the way, he learned about Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, according to CNN.

Julien Navas had previously panned for gold and searched for ammonite fossils, and the park's association with diamonds piqued his interest.

Julien Navas and his achievements

So on January 11, Navas went to the park, bought a ticket and rented a basic diamond hunting kit.

"I got to the park around 9am and started digging. It was hard work, so in the afternoon I was mostly searching the ground for anything that stood out," he shared.

Luckily for Navas, there had been heavy rain a few days earlier. “When the rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and exposes rocks, minerals, and diamonds close to the surface,” explains Waymon Cox, assistant director of the park.

Many of the park's largest diamonds are found on the surface, Cox said, and the park periodically plows the 37.5-acre search area to loosen the soil and promote natural erosion.

Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas

Later in the day, Navas showed up at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center with his findings, where he learned he had found a 7.46-carat brown diamond.

Navas was stunned and said all he could think about was telling his fiancée about the “unique” surprise. The stone is reportedly dark chocolate brown and marble-like in shape and about the size of a piece of gum.

Navas named his diamond the Carine Diamond, after his fiancée, and planned to split the stone into two diamonds, one to give to his future bride and the other to their daughter.

According to a press release, the Carine Diamond is the eighth largest diamond found in Crater of Diamonds since it became a state park in 1972. On average, visitors to the park find one or two diamonds there every day. The diamonds were formed hundreds of millions of years ago, about 60 to 100 miles underground.

The diamond Julien Navas found

Geologists explain that about 100 million years ago, a volcanic eruption brought diamonds to the surface.

Navas called the park "a magical place where dreams of finding a diamond can come true. It's a really great adventure." Navas said he will return to the park with his daughter when she's older.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-hiem-du-khach-nhat-duoc-vien-kim-cuong-khong-lo-trong-cong-vien-18524012907582456.htm