(MURFREESBORO, Ark.) – Dean Filppula, an offshore steward from Shreveport, Louisiana, became aware of Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park about a year ago when searching online for places to search for gems. He recently learned that the park’s 37 ½-acre search field—the eroded surface of an ancient, diamond-bearing deposit—had just been plowed by the park staff. This regular endeavor loosens the diamond-bearing soil which, along with rain erosion, brings more diamonds to the surface and helps park visitors’ chances of finding them. Coinciding perfectly with his vacation, the rains came and Filppula headed to the park to try his luck. His planning paid off when he found a yellow, 2.01-carat diamond Tuesday afternoon in the West Drain of the search area. According to Park Interpreter Waymon Cox, the sparkling, light yellow stone is wedge-shaped and about the size of an English pea. Filppula named his stone the Merf Diamond after his mother’s initials. He plans to sell his diamond.
“Mr. Filppula’s story is familiar to so many of our park visitors who have found large diamonds in the past. More than half an inch of rain had fallen two days before his visit, washing loose soil from the surface of the diamond search area, and, no doubt, uncovering the large, yellow gem,” said Cox. “Anyone could have found it, but Mr. Filppula was in the right place at the right time. We are very happy for him.” He continued, “It’s always surprising, because you never know when a diamond will be found. Mr. Filppula chose to visit the park on a cold day, and ended up with this year’s 20th diamond find, and also the largest one found so far in 2015.”
According to Cox, other visitors from Shreveport have also found large diamonds at the park. In June 2007, Milton Milam discovered a 4.80-carat white diamond while wet sifting soil at the park. Back in June 1981, Carroll Blankenship took home the second largest diamond ever found by a park visitor since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972. Blankenship named his stunning 8.82-carat white diamond the Star of Shreveport.
Cox noted that conditions are perfect for diamond hunting right now, following the plowing and the rain. “Diamonds are a bit heavy for their size, and they lack static electricity, so rainfall slides the dirt off diamonds that are on the surface of the search field leaving them exposed. When the sun comes out, they’ll sparkle and be noticed.”
The search area at the Crater of Diamonds is a 37 ½-acre plowed field that is the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world, in surface area. It is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. In addition to diamonds, semi-precious gems and minerals are found in the park’s search area including amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite, and quartz. Over 40 different rocks and minerals are unearthed at the Crater making it a rockhound’s delight.
The park’s policy is finder-keepers. What park visitors find is theirs to keep. The park staff provides free identification and registration of diamonds. Park interpretive programs and exhibits explain the site’s geology and history, and offer tips on recognizing diamonds in the rough.
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at Arkansas’s diamond site since the first diamonds found in 1906 by John Huddleston, the farmer who at that time owned the land, long before the site became an Arkansas state park in 1972. The largest diamond ever discovered in the U.S. was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. Notable diamonds found by park visitors since the state park was established at the site include the Amarillo Starlight, a 16.37-carat white diamond discovered in 1975 which ranks as the largest diamond ever found by a park visitor. In 2011, a visitor from Colorado found an 8.66-carat white diamond she named the Illusion Diamond, which is the third-largest gem registered here since the Crater of Diamonds State Park was established in 1972.
Another notable diamond from the Crater of Diamonds that has received much national attention is the 1.09-carat D-flawless Strawn-Wagner Diamond. Discovered in 1990 by Shirley Strawn of Murfreesboro, this white gem weighed 3.03 carats in the rough before being cut to perfection in 1997 by the renowned diamond firm Lazare Kaplan International of New York. The gem is the most perfect diamond ever certified in the laboratory of the American Gem Society. It is on display in a special exhibit in the Crater of Diamonds State Park visitor center.
Another gem from the Crater of Diamonds is the flawless 4.25-carat Kahn Canary diamond that was discovered in 1977. This uncut, triangular-shape gem has been on exhibit at many cities around the U.S. and overseas. It was featured in an illustrious jewelry exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1997 that included precious stones from throughout the world including the Kremlin collection, the Vatican, Cartier, and Christies. And, in late 1997, the Kahn Canary was featured in another prestigious exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York entitled “The Nature of Diamonds.” Former First Lady Hillary Clinton borrowed the Kahn Canary from its owner, Stan Kahn of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and wore it in a special, Arkansas-inspired ring setting designed by Henry Dunay of New York as a special way to represent Arkansas’s diamond site at the galas celebrating both of Bill Clinton’s presidential inaugurals.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is on Ark. 301 at Murfreesboro. It is one of the 52 state parks administered by the State Parks Division of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
For more information, contact: Waymon Cox, park interpreter, Crater of Diamonds State Park, 209 State Park Road, Murfreesboro, AR 71958; phone: 870-285-3113; email: Waymon.Cox@Arkansas.gov; or visit www.CraterofDiamondsStatePark.com.
Photos available: www.ArkansasMediaRoom.com/press-releases/park-visitor-from-louisiana-finds-2-01-carat-yellow-diamond-at-arkansas’s-crater-of-diamonds-state-park
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Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
