MURFREESBORO, Ark. – Arkansas officials said a regular visitor to Crater of Diamonds State Park has discovered a 2.38-carat diamond, the largest found at the park this year.

After more than a decade of searching and hundreds of diamonds found at the park, Adam Hardin found his first diamond weighing more than 2 carats. The discovery came while Harden was wet-sifting soil from the East Drain of the park’s 37.5-acre search area.

“It was right in the middle when I flipped my screen over,” Hardin said. “When I saw it, I said, ‘Wow, that’s a big diamond!”

According to Park Interpreter Waymon Cox, many visitors wet sift using a screen to wash away soil and separate the gravel by size. Small gravel is then stored by weight, which sends heavier material to the bottom of the screen.

“When it’s flipped upside-down, the heavier gravel and sometimes a diamond can be found on top of the pile,” Cox said.

Hardin placed his newly discovered gem in a pill bottle and brought it to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center where is was registered as a 2.38-carat brown diamond.

“Mr. Hardin’s diamond is about the size of a pinto bean, with a coffee brown color and a rounded shape,” Cox said. “It has a metallic shine typical of all diamonds found at the park, with a few inclusions and crevices running all along the surface.” 

Hardin’s diamond is the largest found at the park since September 2021 when a visitor from California discovered a 4.38-carat yellow gem on the surface of the diamond search area. It is also the largest brown diamond discovered at the park since Labor Day 2020.

Finders of large diamonds often choose to name their gems. Hardin named his diamond Frankenstone.  

“I thought of the name because it has a pretty and kind of not-so-pretty look to it,” Hardin explained. “Us diamond miners call that ‘character!'”  

For more information on Crater of Diamonds State Park, check out their website.