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PaulO July 14, 2010

Are there any mines in the world open for the public that welcome anyone to come search for diamonds?

I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a public diamond mine which I could personally enter and try to excavate a diamond myself?

Answers (1 - 1 of 1)

RyanT July 17, 2010

The only public diamond mine I am aware of is located in Arkansas, United States. This place is actually a campsite named the Crater of Diamonds State Park and it offers a "finders keepers" type of policy. In return for a small entrance fee, anyone could enter the diamond mining site and try to unearth diamonds. It is estimated that about 60,000 people visit the Crater of Diamonds annually in order to try their luck and search for precious gemstones. The crater became well known for its natural diamond deposits back in 1906 when a farmer named John Huddleston first discovered diamonds there. Legend has it that while Huddleston was spreading rock salt on his hog farm he spotted some shiny speckles on the ground. Upon closer observation, he discovered that he had unearthed two beautiful diamonds; the first a 3 carat colorless white diamond and the other a 1.5 carat brilliant yellow diamond. It wasn't too long before word got out and Huddleston and his farm became well known throughout the United States. Huddleston decided to sell his farm for $36,000, and this was the portion that was later closed for the benefit of the public. Ever since the site was first discovered by Huddleston in 1906, it is estimated that over 75,000 diamonds have been excavated on an average of two diamonds are found per day. The largest discovery ever made on these grounds was a 40.23 carat diamond found back in 1924 that was named "Uncle Sam". Although most of the discoveries are small sized diamonds roughly the size of a match head, there are some big exceptions. One of which belongs to a Mrs. Parker when she discovered her diamond in 1956. She was lucky that her visit to the campsite followed a week of heavy rain falls, which made it much easier for her to unveil an amazing 15.33 carat diamond from the Crater of Diamonds. However, the largest of diamonds ever to be found since the diamond mine had become open to the public was a 16.37 carat diamond named "Amarillo Starlight" which was discovered in 1975. A visit to the Crater of Diamonds State Park makes for a wonderful adventure and it currently consists of a visitor's center (where the process of unearthing diamonds is explained), picnic area and a 1.3 mile trail. The portion of the site which is known to yield diamond deposits consists of about 35 acres and it is believed to be the 8th largest diamond reserve in the world!