A LUCKY rock hunter has struck the motherload – after finding a 3.81 carat brown diamond which he first mistook for a candy wrapper.
Avid stone collector David DeCook made the groundbreaking find while scanning the floors at Crater Of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
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The Stewartville farmer told FOX9 that he and his brother had been visiting the park for over 20 years.
He said that they usually go two to three times a year to hunt for diamonds.
The successful treasure hunter said it “took a while to sink in” after finding the gem.
DeCook said that about an hour into one of their latest visits with their dad last week – he saw a glimmering object on the floor and picked it up.
He explained: “Kind of looks like a candy wrapper, real shiny looking, kind of like a Werther’s candy wrapper kind of.
“As you get closer to it, you can tell it’s a diamond pretty quick.”
The earthshattering discovery turned out to be a 3.81 carat brown diamond.
He monikered the rock “The Duke Diamond”, after his hunting dog.
It was the largest diamond he has ever found, and the largest found the park this year.
The jackpot-hitter said: “I was very surprised, I guess, and never thought I’d find one that big.
“You just never know what you’re gonna find. It’s a chance of a lifetime.”
He also said that he isn’t sure exactly what he is going to do with the diamond right now.
But the lucky farmer wants to return next winter and hunt again.
“It’s kind of an interesting deal,” he reflected.
“Probably never happen again for me, but somebody else would be next.”
The Arkansas state park features a 37.5-acre plowed field – one of the few diamond-bearing sites accessible to the public.
Diamonds have been unearthed there since 1906, and it became a state park in 1972.