In this photo released by the Crater of
Diamonds State Park, a 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond found
Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, is shown in Murfreesboro, Ark., Monday. (AP
Photo/Crater of Diamonds State Park)
MURFREESBORO, Ark. - Chad Johnson has found about 80 diamonds at
Crater of Diamonds State Park, but on Monday he nearly threw away
his largest find yet. A cube-shaped rock plucked out of his sifters
turned out to be a 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond.
Johnson, 36, made the dig Saturday at the park and left his
equipment in a locker. When he came back Monday morning, he made
the discovery.
Crater of Diamonds State Park, 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-carat 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-carat 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 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.
"If someone offers me that much money, it's theirs," Johnson
said.
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