Shiny object picked up by man turns out to be precious diamond

United States: A man taking a routine stroll with friends across Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas picked up a ‘shiny’ object thinking that it was a piece of glass, but he was shocked to find out that it was a 9.07-carat diamond.

Kevin Kinard, a bank manager, was startled to discover that a shiny object he picked up thinking that it was glass turned out to be a 9.07-carat diamond. He was leisurely taking a stroll at a state park in southwestern Arkansas when he found the precious stone.

Kinard had been a regular visitor at Crater of Diamonds since his childhood, however, he never stumbled upon a diamond until this month when he and his friends were sifting equipment to the state park.

“I only wet sifted for about ten minutes before I started walking up and down the plowed rows. Anything that looked like a crystal, I picked it up and put it in my bag,” said Kindar, who found second-largest diamond in the 48-year history of Crater of Diamonds State Park.

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He stumbled upon a marble-sized crystal that had a rounded, dimpled shape. “It kind of looked interesting and shiny, so I put it in my bag and kept searching. I just thought it might’ve been glass,” he said.

Hours later, Kinard and his friends stopped by at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center where the visitor finds are identified and diamonds registered.

“I almost didn’t have them check my finds, because I didn’t think I had found anything. My friend had hers checked, though, so I went ahead and had them check mine, too,” he recalled.

When an employee informed him that he had discovered a diamond, Kinard was in complete shock.