For Will and Marshall Barnett of Buckeye, AZ, a recent father-and-son "boys' week" road trip with a stopover at Arkansas’ famous Crater of Diamonds State Park couldn't have gone much better. The pair discovered a 2-carat, iced tea-colored diamond after wet sifting just a few buckets of soil.
It was the second-largest diamond registered so far this year and the 36,500th diamond documented since the site became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.
Will had learned about the park from his uncle, who worked as a park interpreter at another Arkansas State Park. So, when he and his son mapped out their summer trip, they were excited to try their luck at finding genuine gemstone in Murfreesboro.
With buckets and shovels in-hand, Will and Marshall arrived at the park on the morning of July 27. They rented screens at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center and then entered the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area, a plowed field atop the eroded surface of an ancient, diamond-bearing volcano.
After filling a few buckets with diamond-bearing soil, they headed to the park’s south wash pavilion to wet sift the material.
“Wet sifting is one of the most effective methods to search for diamonds,” said Park Interpreter Ashlyn Keys. “The search area has two wash pavilions, with water troughs and tables. Using screens to separate dirt from the gravel allows you to go through more material in less time, giving a better chance of finding a diamond.”
The wet-sifting strategy quickly paid off. Will spotted something glimmering at the bottom of his screen and called over his son, saying, “Hey Marshall, you should take a look at this!”
Marshall and his dad brought their find to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff confirmed that it was a 2-carat, rectangular-shaped diamond, about the size of a pencil eraser.
Even before learning the official results, Keys said, “You could tell they knew they had found something special from the smiles on their faces.”
Will and Marshall are no strangers to the mining scene. They are frequent gold panners.
The dad often refers to his son as a "minor-miner," so they decided to name their diamond "Minor Find."
Commenting about his experience at the park, Will said, “It’s worth looking, even if you don’t find a diamond!”
Credits: Images courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.