Woman says 2-carat diamond she unearthed at Arkansas state park will be used in engagement ring

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MURFREESBORO, Ark. (AP) — A New York woman has unearthed a 2-carat white diamond at an Arkansas state park, a gem she says will be used in her engagement ring.

Micherre Fox of Manhattan spent several weeks at the state park in July after deciding to forage for a diamond, according to a news release from Waymon Cox, an assistant superintendent at Crater of Diamonds State Park.

The 31-year-old woman searched for diamonds during much of July in a 37-acre field that is part of the eroded surface of an ancient volcanic crater.

It wasn’t until her last day at the park, while walking, that she spotted something glistening at her feet. Park staff confirmed that the sparkly gem about the size of a person’s canine tooth was a 2.3-carat diamond.

“I got on my knees and cried, then started laughing," Fox said in the statement.

It’s the third-largest diamond of more than 350 diamonds found at the park this year. The park is open to the public and adults can engage in gem hunting by paying $15 per day. Park staff plows the field periodically to loosen the soil and make diamond hunting easier.

Park visitors have found and kept more than 35,000 diamonds since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972, according to park officials.

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed there in 1924 during an early mining operation, park officials said. Known as Uncle Sam, the white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats and was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. It's part of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the National Museum of Natural History.