Where can you find diamonds in the US?
Verdict summary
Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas is the only diamond-bearing site in the world open to the public, where visitors dig for diamonds in an eroded volcanic crater and keep what they find. Visitors find hundreds of diamonds each year.
Diamonds have also been found in glacial deposits in the Great Lakes region and along the Colorado-Wyoming border, but rarely.
Sources: Arkansas State Parks.
Where can I find gemstones myself? Public dig-your-own sites include Crater of Diamonds (diamonds, Arkansas), sapphire digs in Montana, emerald and gem mines around Hiddenite and Franklin in North Carolina, Oregon's sunstone area, and Australia's fossicking fields such as Lightning Ridge (opal) and the Gemfields of Queensland (sapphire). Many charge a small fee.
How do you tell if a rock is a meteorite? Most meteorites are heavier than ordinary rocks, attract a magnet, and have a thin black or brown fusion crust with no bubbles or holes. Most rocks people think are meteorites are not. A university or museum meteorite lab can confirm one.
Primary sources cited
- Arkansas State Parks