United States tourist finds 4.38 carat 'yellow diamond' in Arkansas State Park

A random visitor at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, US stumbled upon “the largest diamond found so far” after she saw a ‘shiny’ 4.38-carat raw yellow coloured precious stone worth $20k lying on the ground during a walk with her husband.

The couple had searched the historical diamond mine area for about an hour, when Noreen Wredberg of Granite Bay, California, found the park's largest diamond of the year. The woman and her husband Michael, both of who retired in 2011, have been spending time visiting America’s National Parks and at first, made a brief stop at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. Later, the woman decided to explore the Crater of Diamonds State Park at just a few miles’ distances, the State Park of Arkansas informed in a release. 

“I first saw the park featured on a TV show several years ago,” the California resident was quoted saying by the Park. “When I realised we weren’t too far away, I knew we had to come!,” she added. 

“Arkansas is the only state in the country that has a diamond mine open to the public,” said Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst in the Park’s release. “It’s such a unique experience and visitors make lifetime memories, whether or not they find a diamond. Of course, finding a diamond adds to the experience!”

'Didn’t know it was a diamond,' the woman said

The couple, now famous for pocketing the Park’s largest-ever diamond of 2021 had arrived at the Crater of Diamonds on Thursday, September 23, and started their search. The Park described that it was a “sunny-but-cool fall morning,” and the duo, at first, started the lookout near the mine entrance. Later, the husband suggested that they ventured farther out in order to get hands-on a precious stone. Forty minutes later, the California woman stumbled upon the iconic, hefty diamond. “It was cold in the shade that morning,” Michael told the Park. He went on to add, “So I told Noreen that we should go to the middle of the field, where it was warmer.” He said that the two were searching near the north of a central pathway when his wife “spotted the sparkling gem on top of the ground.”

The woman told park authorities, “I didn’t know it was a diamond then, but it was clean and shiny, so I picked it up!” They later brought the stone to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center for identification, where they said that the couple had discovered a “very large yellow diamond.” 

“When I first saw this diamond under the microscope, I thought, ‘Wow, what a beautiful shape and color!’  Wredberg’s diamond weighs more than four carats and is about the size of a jellybean, with a pear shape and a lemonade yellow colour,” Park Superintendent Caleb Howell said in the release. 

Meanwhile, Park’s Interpreter Waymon Cox informed that many of the park’s largest diamonds are found usually on the surface. “We plough the search area periodically to loosen the soil and promote natural erosion. Diamonds are somewhat heavy for their size and lack static electricity, so dirt doesn’t stick to them. When rain uncovers a larger diamond and the sun comes out, its reflective surface is often easy to see,” he said. Further, Cox noted that the weather conditions were perfect at the time for the couple to find the diamond. 

“Many visitors surface search for diamonds after a good rain. More than one inch of rain fell at the park between September 19 and 21. The soil had dried a little, and the sun was out when Mrs. Wredberg visited two days later. She was in just the right place to see her diamond sparkle in the morning sunlight,” Cox noted.