Murfreesboro, Ark. (AP) - Chad Johnson has found about 80 diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park, but on Monday he nearly threw away his largest find yet.

A cube-shaped rock plucked out of his sifters turned out to be a 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond.

Johnson, 36, made the dig Saturday at the park and left his equipment in a locker. When he came back Monday morning, he made the discovery.

Crater of Diamonds State Park, which opened in 1972, is the world's only diamond-producing site open to the public, and visitors can keep the gems they unearth. The largest diamond found at the park was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight, a white diamond found in 1975.

Johnson's find is the second-largest diamond uncovered at the park this year. In June, a Louisiana man found a 4.8-carat stone. More than 700 diamonds have been found there this year.
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pretty cool looking

Lucky for him he didn,t toss it! But that park is going to be flooded with tourists bringing picks and shovels to chip and dig everywhere now! If there not carefull about setting rules and guidlines it could turn the park into quite a mess!

I wouldn't know what it's like to own a diamond, but that is an unusual color...

It's amazing how many gem stone mines are open to the public... often for free, in the USA. I plan on making a trip next April to the Oregon Sunstone mine (red labrodrite). For one day, you can stift through all their rubble, for free, and take home ANYTHING you find. If you want to go a second day, you have to pay a small fee.

The Arkansas diamond fields are pretty well known. You stand a pretty good chance of paying your $20 fee, or whatever it is, it's not much, and pulling out more than the $20 you put in... but a 4ct, brown diamond is really rare. They only pull those out every few years. It's a little like winning a lottery! Of course, once it's cut, it might be 2ct max. If that. Still, not bad for a hard days work!