The policy at Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park is that if you find a diamond in the 37-acre eroded volcanic crater, its yours to keep. Since he was in second grade. Kevin Kinard, now 33, has occasionally searched the field to no avail. On Labor Day though, Kinard was wandering the site when spotted a rather large shiny stone. It was about the size of a marble and turned out to be a 9.07 carat diamond. It's the second largest diamond found there. The biggest is a 16.37-carat white Amarillo Starlight someone nabbed in 1975. From CNN:
After hours of searching, the friends stopped by the park's Diamond Discovery Center to have their stones examined.
Moments later, Kinard was called into an office and given the good news.
"I honestly teared up when they told me. I was in complete shock," he said.
He decided to call his find the Kinard Friendship Diamond."It weighs 9.07, and I found it on 9/7. I thought that was so unique."
More: "Visitor Finds 9-Carat Diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park" (Arkansas State Parks)
image: Crater of Diamonds State Park
UPDATE: Reader George Gordon writes to add that the Amarillo Starlight's record is "true of diamond discovery since the park was created in 1972. But the largest diamond ever found on that site was the 40.23 carat 'Uncle Sam' diamond. The 'Uncle Sam' was discovered in 1924 when the site was still called the Pike Creek pipe mine, owned by the Arkansas Diamond Corporation."