Tourist discovers huge $28,000 diamond in park
Julien was on holiday when he decided to add one more stop to his itinerary.
A tourist is thanking his lucky stars after discovering a huge diamond worth more than $28,000 in a park.
Julien Navas stumbled upon the 7.46-carat gem on the ground after travelling to the US to see the Vulcan Centaur launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. He then went with a friend to visit New Orleans, Louisiana.
It was only mid-trip that he learnt about the Crater of Diamonds State Park, in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. Given his interest in gold panning and fossil hunting, dad-of-one Julien decided to add the destination to his itinerary.
Julien — from Paris, France — rented a basic diamond hunting kit from the park. "I got to the park around nine o'clock and started to dig," he explained. "That is back-breaking work so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out."
After several hours of searching, Navas was stunned to find the brown diamond. Brown diamonds are the most common colour variety of natural diamonds and are worth A$3,780 per carat, meaning Julien’s is worth an estimated A$28,250. They get their colour from the presence of nitrogen atoms in the crystal.
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Heavy rain washes away dirt covering diamond
By chance, it had rained heavily in the area a few days earlier. The park superintendents said they believe the rain had washed away the dirt covering the stone. "I am so happy," Navas said after making his incredible find. "All I can think about is telling my fiancée what I found."
The dad named the diamond Carine after his partner. He plans to get it cut in two to gift to her and his daughter.
Arkansas State Parks said his find is the "eighth-largest diamond registered since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas State Park in 1972".
Jam Press
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