Bling, Bling! US Woman Uncovers 4.38-Carat Diamond at Arkansas State Park

This year alone, at least 258 diamonds have been found by patrons of Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park. The combined weight of the stones reportedly exceeds 46 carats.

Noreen Wredberg and her husband, Michael, got more than they bargained for while visiting the aptly named Crater of Diamonds State Park on September 23rd.

During their trip to the Pike County, Arkansas, park, Wredberg stumbled upon what she first presumed to be a regular, worthless stone.

However, a closer inspection by Park Superintendent Caleb Howell would reveal that the rock in question - estimated to be "the size of a jellybean, with a pear shape and a lemonade colour" - was actually a yellow diamond weighing 4.38 carats.

"I didn't know it was a diamond then, but it was clean and shiny, so I picked it up", Wredberg recounted.

Park policy permits patrons to keep what they find while visiting the site, which has been recording such discoveries since 1906.

"When I first saw this diamond under the microscope, I thought, 'Wow, what a beautiful shape and colour'", Howell said of the yellow diamond.

Wredberg's find is the largest diamond registered this year, and the largest diamond found since Arkansas resident Kevin Kinard uncovered a 9.07-carat diamond in September 2020.

Kinard's 9-carat discovery is the second-largest diamond registered in park history.

A total of 75,000 diamonds have been discovered at the site. According to the Arkansas state website, at least 33,000 of those diamonds were uncovered by visitors.