Family unearths 2.79-carat brown diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park

A family on a trip to Arkansas from Oklahoma unearthed a 2.79-carat brown diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park after digging with inexpensive tools bought at a dollar store. The find came on September 13 as Raynae Madison and her nephew William joined other visitors seeking gems in the park.

Raynae Madison and her nephew had bought a beach digging kit and sand sifting tools at a dollar store before arriving at the park. They selected a spot on the north side of the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area and began digging through buckets of dirt. After processing several buckets, Madison spotted an unusual oblong, shiny stone that she initially thought was too large to be a diamond. The group then carried the stone to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff identified it as a brown diamond weighing 2.79 carats. Madison named the stone the 'William Diamond' in honor of her nephew.

State park officials described the diamond as chocolate brown, with unique inclusions. The stone is the third-largest diamond registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park this year. Emma O'Neal, the park interpreter, said, '2025 has been a great year for large diamond finds!' The finding underscores the park’s ongoing appeal as a site where visitors can search for gems much as prospectors did in the past.

The tally at Crater of Diamonds State Park continues to climb. The park reported more than 400 diamonds unearthed so far this year, with only a handful weighing more than two carats. Arkansas State Parks records indicate that only two diamonds discovered at the park since mid-August weighed more than one carat, including the William Diamond, and Madison’s find was the only one in that period weighing more than two carats. The Diamond Discovery Center and park officials emphasize that the value of uncut diamonds cannot be appraised by the state; value is determined only after stones are cut and polished.

Brown diamonds at the park form through a process called plastic deformation, which can create structural defects during a diamond’s formation or movement in magma. Those defects reflect red and green light, giving the stones their distinctive brown hue. The William Diamond joins a growing list of notable finds at the site, which continues to attract visitors hoping to strike it rich in a natural gemstone playground.

Visitors have discovered 36,824 diamonds with a total weight of 7,267 carats since Crater of Diamonds State Park opened in 1972. The largest diamond found at the park this year weighed 3.81 carats and was also brown; it was discovered in April by a Minnesota visitor named David DeCook. The largest diamond ever found in the United States came from Crater of Diamonds: the 40.23-carat Uncle Sam, unearthed in 1924 and now part of the Smithsonian’s collection at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The park’s history stretches back further to 1906, when John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land before it became a state park, first uncovered diamonds in the area. Officials estimate that more than 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed since then, highlighting Crater of Diamonds State Park as one of the most prolific diamond sites in the United States.