Frequent visitor to Arkansas diamond park uncovers 2.38 carat rock. ‘Frankenstone’

A massive 2.38-carat diamond found at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas has made one man the “king of the mountain.”

Adam Hardin said he has searched for diamonds for more than a decade at the Murfreesboro park, where visitors are allowed to hunt for real diamonds. On April 10, according to Arkansas State Park officials, he found a massive diamond that was the largest discovered this year at the popular site.

“It was right in the middle when I flipped my screen over,” Hardin said, according to a news release. “When I saw it, I said, ‘Wow, that’s a big diamond!’”

The 2.38-carat brown diamond is the largest found in the park since September, when a California man discovered a 4.38-carat rock. The diamond found by Hardin is described as the size of a pinto bean with a metallic shine.

Because of some of its imperfections, Hardin named it “Frankenstone.”

“I thought of the name because it has a pretty and kind of not-so-pretty look to it,” he said. “Us diamond miners call that ‘character!’”

Hardin said many frequent visitors to the park like to compete with one another to see who can find the biggest diamond. For now, Hardin is the victor.

“I found a big one, then he got a 1.79-carat, and we were joking about who would find the next big diamond and be ‘king of the mountain,’” he said in the release. “As soon as I found this one, I had a feeling I had him beat. Now he’s trying to find a bigger one, but I’m planning on staying on top!”

More than 33,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the 37-acre park since 1972. The policy at the park is “finders, keepers,” meaning visitors get to keep anything they discover.

Hardin won’t be keeping the diamond he found though as he plans to sell it, according to the release.

This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Frequent visitor to Arkansas diamond park uncovers 2.38 carat rock. ‘Frankenstone’."