Texas couple finds 6 carat diamond at state park

Donald and Brenda Roden of Point, Texas were searching the East Drain section of the parks diamond field last weekend when they found the gem. The coffee color, brown diamond weighed in at 6.35 carats making it the largest confirmed diamond find at the park since 1998 when a mother and daughter from Louisiana and Mississippi found the 7.28-carat gem they named the Dickinson-Stevens Diamond. According to Park Superintendent Tom Stolarz, the Rodens` gem is the eighth largest find of the 25,714 diamonds discovered since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972. Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world`s only publicly-operated diamond site where the public is allowed to search and keep any gems found, regardless of value. Other semi-precious gems and minerals found here include amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, calcite, barite and quartz. Over 40 different rocks and minerals are unearthed at the Crater making it a rock hound`s delight. Over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater since those first found in 1906 by John Huddleston, the farmer who at that time owned the land. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond weighed 40.23 carats. (Copyright 2006 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)