(USNewsMag.com) – More than 100,000 people visit the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas each year. Visitors flock there to try their luck at diamond mining and many are successful. Maybe not as successful as a recent visitor from California.
In September, Noreen Wredberg visited the park with her husband and searched for diamonds for an hour. The couple came up empty-handed in the mine. Then as they were leaving, Wredberg spotted something shiny on the ground.
“I didn’t know it was a diamond, but it was so clean and shiny, so I picked it up,” Wredberg said.
What she’d found was a 4.38-carat raw yellow diamond. Park Superintendent Caleb Howell said the diamond is about the size of a jelly bean and looks like lemonade.
Talk about a souvenir! https://t.co/zDYSZOXTov
— Southern Living (@Southern_Living) October 4, 2021
According to the park, Wredberg’s diamond is the biggest stone found in the park in 2021. So far, visitors have discovered 258 gemstones this year, weighing more than 46 carats in total. The largest stone ever found in the United States was uncovered at the park, it was a 40.23-carat white diamond. W.O. Basham found the gem in 1924 and named it Uncle Sam.
Wredberg has named her stone “Lucy’s Diamond” after her husband’s kitten. She said she’s going to find out how much it’s worth and possibly have it cut.
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