Eric black is a 33-year-old carpenter. Since his grandfather took him there for the first time when he was a teenager, he has drilled holes two or three times a year. From June 5438 to October 2007, his efforts finally paid off. He found a 3.9-carat boulder, almost as big as the Kahn canary diamond that Hillary Clinton borrowed at the inauguration of her Arkansas-born husband. This is a rare discovery, which is enough to attract national attention. It is reported that Blake found this slender white diamond on a small road. He was throwing things into a 70-pound bucket full of mud and gravel, and he was going to clean it up.
If it can be proved that this lucky stone comes from Arkansas land, its value may be as high as 8000 dollars. In the year after his discovery, collectors, park managers and law enforcement officers began to wonder how Blake and his family found an unprecedented 32 diamonds in less than a week.
"We care not only about the integrity of the park, but also about the integrity of Arkansas," said Tom Stolaz, the park keeper. When Blake was about to leave the park, he caught a glimpse of diamonds. Although Stolaz is not a geologist, he has worked in the park for 26 years, handling more than 65,438+100,000 diamonds, paying special attention to large stones. Black's rough gem is indeed a diamond in Stolaz's view, but is it an American diamond? "The answer is more important than people think. Diamonds are just crystalline carbon, which can now be produced economically in the laboratory. But these diamonds are fascinating; The Diamond Exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History, featuring Hope Diamonds, is one of the most popular destinations of the Smithsonian Institution. For many diamond buyers, history lovers and an eccentric subculture specializing in diamond hunters, origin is everything.
Diamonds were discovered in August 1906 in Arkansas, when a farmer named john wesley Hudson found a "sparkling pebble" on his land. The next year, * * * described the treasure of "Diamond John" in epic language: "The story of finding a diamond field in the poorest county of Arkansas reads like a chapter in the adventures of Sinbad."
More than 65,438+0,000 dreamers poured into nearby Mufrisboro, filling the crumbling Conway Hotel and building a tent city between the town and the diamond field. Mike Howard of the Arkansas Geological Survey says life is not easy. ""Many people came, but few people found them, "he said." Most diamonds disappeared within a few years. "At that time, most of the diamonds in Arkansas were below 10 mark, which is about110 carat. But at 1924, a lucky miner pulled a 40-carat monster out of the ground. This diamond, named Uncle Sam, is still the largest diamond found in the United States and shines in the eyes of every miner.
In the past century, many interesting things have happened in the diamond field. According to the investigation of the Ministry of Justice, after 19 10 failed to completely control the area, the London-based diamond group is said to have set up a false operation to dilute the potential of the mine and destroy production. 19 19, the processing plants of two competitors were burned to ashes on the same January night, which encouraged the rumor that someone wanted to destroy the profits of the coal mine. S is as smooth and round as a drop of glass and is the hardest in the world. They come in three colors: white, yellow and brown. In the world, except the Panna mine in India, there are almost no other large mines whose stones can be accepted by the local people in Arkansas. (Howard said that the similarity between the diamonds in these two places is probably superficial, although no one has recorded trace elements that can be used for the fingerprints of Arkansas diamonds. If Blake's 3.9-carat diamond is imported, the net price will not exceed several hundred dollars. His remaining stones are much cheaper.
When park ranger Stolaz saw Blake's diamonds, he suggested that Blake show them to Howard of Arkansas Geological Survey. Howard is on vacation, but after receiving a phone call about big diamonds, he made a special trip to Little Rock's office. But Blake and his fiance, her daughter and sister drove back to Wisconsin, but they didn't show up. Howard called Blake's cell phone again and again, but he couldn't get through. A few days later, he arrived in Blake, who explained that he "had a flat tire and had no time to pass," Howard recalled. "A few weeks later, Blake's diamond photos appeared on Yi Bei and Blake's own website" Arkansas Diamond Jewelry "."When Blake's discovery arrived at the trailer Mufflesboro miners' camp,
There are a group of well-meaning diamond hunters living in parks and campsites, which makes people a little jealous. And suspicious. "I thought,' Oh, my God!' Denis Tilea, a 49-year-old licensed handyman, said that in the past 18 months, he made a living by digging diamonds. "You don't just come here, choose a place, find 40 diamonds and say,' See you next year!' In June 2006, tyrael came to the park, and it took him 65,438+00 days to find his first diamond. His personal best diamond price of 3 1 day is 38, which is the record he set in June 2008.
Despite their suspicions, there is no evidence of any misconduct. Later, a fossil and mineral merchant named Wang Yinan discovered something strange. In September 2007, he bought a smaller diamond from Black for $200. Last June+February, 5438, Wang Jianmin was interested in doing business with an Indian dealer named Malaysiani. * * * Please ask Hilani to share a recent Kimberley Process certificate, which will ensure that his rough diamonds are not so-called blood diamonds traded by African warlords, and will verify that Hilani has done business in the United States before. By chance, Hilani copied the certificate of an order sent by Hilani to Blake for the king. Wang simply evaluated his potential business partner, and then decided to ask whether Blackshirani was trustworthy. To his surprise, Blake denied this connection: he said that all our diamonds came from America,
It was not until March 2008 that Wang began to think about it. He is talking with Hilani about the origin of rough diamonds. Wang mentioned Blake's website. The businessman took one look and immediately felt that he recognized some of Blake's jewels as his own. "I realized that I had come across something relatively big," Wang said. Hilani shared his receipt, delivery confirmation number and photos with Wang, and they later traced it to another source: a Belgian businessman named Philip klapp Holtz. Wang Jianmin disclosed the news about the counterfeiters under the pseudonym "Hal Submarine Pingdingshan". Clarified the so-called fraud.
If Blake really grows foreign diamonds on Arkansas land, is that a crime? Pike county Sheriff Preston Glenn is investigating Blake, which is expected to be completed in early 2009, but he said that if there are any charges, it will be up to the prosecutor to decide whether to pursue them. Meanwhile, officials say Blake has agreed not to return to Diamond Pit National Park.
Blake said that he didn't do anything wrong, but posted the wrong photos on his website. "Some diamonds are problematic, but no one can prove anything," he said.
On a Friday afternoon in August last year, diamond hunter Taylor finally got his own luc.