MURFREESBORO, Ark. — David Anderson of Murfreesboro discovered a 3.29-carat brown diamond at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park on Saturday, March 4.
Anderson, a regular visitor to the park, spotted the gem while wet-sifting soil from the West Drain of the park’s diamond search area.
“At first I thought it was quartz but wondered why it was so shiny,” he described. “Once I picked it up, I realized it was a diamond!”
His discovery marks the largest diamond found at the park so far this year and the largest since September 2021.
Anderson named his diamond B.U.D., which stands for “Big, Ugly Diamond”, referring to the pea-sized stone’s pitted surface and mottled brown color.
Anderson typically sells his diamonds locally and said he also has plans to sell this one. He has found more than 400 diamonds over the past 16 years— including 15 weighing over one carat.
Anderson first learned about Crater of Diamonds State Park while watching The Travel Channel in 2007, and after that, the rest is history.
“My first trip here was in 2007. After I found my first diamond, a 1.5-carat white, I was hooked,” he said.
