4-Ct. Diamond Found at State Park

By JCK Online Staff -- JCK Online, 11/6/2007 7:40:00 AM

An Arkansas man discovered a 4.38-ct., tea-colored diamond at an Arkansas State Park, The Associated Press reports.

Chad Johnson, a regular at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, the world's only diamond producing site open to the public, nearly he nearly threw away his largest find yet, the AP reports. He found unknowingly found the diamond on Saturday and stored it along with his mining equipment in his locker over the weekend.

When Johnson, 36, returned Monday morning and made the discovery, the AP reports.

Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Ark., which opened in 1972, is the world's only diamond-producing site open to the public, and visitors can keep the gems they unearth. The largest diamond found at the park was the 16.37-ct. Amarillo Starlight, a white diamond found in 1975.

Johnson's find is the second-largest diamond uncovered at the park this year. In June, a Louisiana man found a 4.8-ct. stone. More than 700 diamonds have been found there this year.

Since moving to Arkansas from Iowa in February, Johnson said, he was living off money made by selling diamonds. He had found about 80 diamonds up until that point, the AP reports. He only recently took a job at a convenience store, partly because he "got tired of selling diamonds to make ends meet."

Park officials declined to speculate how much money Johnson could get for the diamond. Johnson suggested he expects much more than what he is used to getting, the AP reports.