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A 33-year-old bank manager on vacation found a 9.07-carat diamond at a park in Arkansas.
In early September, Kevin Kinard and his friends traveled to Crater of Diamonds State Park to look for diamonds. The park sits on a volcanic crater and has a large expanse where people can dig to look for diamonds. Park visitors are allowed to keep any diamonds they find.
According to Kinard, he has been visiting the park since he was a child, but he had never found a diamond until recently.
After a few hours of searching and collecting, Kinard and his friends went to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center to have their finds checked. Upon inspection, park officials confirmed that one of Kinard’s discoveries was a real diamond. The diamond was described as shiny and metallic, brown in color, and having a rounded shape.
According to park officials, Kinard’s find is the second-largest diamond discovered at the park since it opened nearly 50 years ago. The biggest one, which was discovered in 1975, was 16.37 carats. Officials are still unsure how much Kinard’s diamond is worth, but they said that a 3.03-carat white diamond previously found at the park was appraised at $34,700 in 1998.
Since it is customary for park visitors to name their finds, Kinard named his the “Kinard Friendship Diamond” in honor of his friends and their travels together. After registering his diamond, he immediately took it to the bank where he works to keep it safe.
According to Kinard, he almost left the park without knowing that he had an actual diamond with him. Luckily, one of his friends decided at the last minute to have her finds checked, so he went with her to see if he had found anything valuable. When one of the park staff informed him that he had a 9-carat diamond, he was shocked. He said that he was grateful and humbled by the experience.