MURFREESBORO, Ark. — The largest diamond found at Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park since 2021 was found by a regular visitor, the state park announced.
On Saturday, March 3, David Anderson, who is a resident of Murfreesboro, found the 3.29-carat brown diamond while wet-sifting gravel at the park.
The diamond found by Anderson is the largest since September 2021 among the park's 37.5-acre search area.
“At first I thought it was quartz but wondered why it was so shiny,” Anderson said. “Once I picked it up, I realized it was a diamond!”
The park says Anderson first heard about the Crater of Diamonds from the Travel Channel back in 2007. “My first trip here was in 2007. After I found my first diamond, a 1.5-carat white, I was hooked!”
In the past 16 years, Anderson has found 400 diamonds with 15 weighing over one carat. Other top finds from him include a 3.83-carat yellow diamond found in December 2011 and a 6.19-carat white gem discovered in April 2014.
Anderson named his diamond B.U.D. “That’s for Big, Ugly Diamond,” he said, noting the diamond’s pitted surface and mottled brown color.
Anderson typically sells his diamonds locally and said he also plans to sell this one, he told the state park. “Mr. Anderson’s diamond is about the size of an English pea, with a light brown color and octahedron shape,” said Park Interpreter Tayler Markham. “It has a metallic shine typical of all diamonds found at the park, with a partially resorbed surface and lots of inclusions.”
Anderson’s diamond is the largest gem park staff have registered since September 2021 when a visitor from Granite Bay, California discovered a 4.38-carat yellow diamond at the site. It is the largest brown diamond from the park since the Kinard Friendship Diamond, a 9.07-carat gem found on Labor Day 2020. The Kinard Friendship Diamond was discovered by Kevin Kinard of Maumelle and is the second-largest diamond found at Crater of Diamonds State Park.
A total of 124 diamonds have been found at Crater of Diamonds State Park this year, as of mid-March. An average of one to two diamonds are found by park visitors each day.