Teacher finds 2-carat diamond in Arkansas – and there might be more, officials say

A teacher searching an Arkansas state park just found a diamond that weighs over 2 carats, and record-breaking rainfall could mean more riches are up for grabs, officials say.

Josh Lanik, who’s from Hebron, Nebraska, was on a family vacation at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro last week when he looked near the western border of an approximately 38-acre search area that’s open to the public, according to a news release.

Lanik, 36, was walking along a trench when he spotted “something unique,” though he couldn’t be sure it was anything special, officials said.

“I saw the shine, and when I picked it up and rolled it in my hand, I noticed there weren’t any sharp edges,” Lanik said in the release.

He showed the shiny rock to his wife, put it in a paper sack with other rocks and minerals, and they continued on their way, officials said.

As Lanik’s family was leaving the state park, they decided to stop in at the visitor center for help identifying their discoveries. Lanik poured out the rocks and minerals onto a counter, and the park employee’s reaction told him the shiny gem could be valuable, according to the release.

“She wouldn’t tell us whether it was a diamond, but we were pretty sure from her reaction that it was,” Lanik said in the release.

Park employees weighed and identified the “brandy-colored gem” as a 2.12-carat diamond — the largest found in the park this year, officials said.

Visitors could be finding more diamonds like it, experts said. Recent record-breaking rainfall in the area likely helped with the discovery, park interpreter Waymon Cox said in the release. After rainwater washes away dirt on the ancient volcanic crater, sunshine exposes glistening diamonds on the surface, Cox said.

Visitors have found nearly 300 diamonds at the park this year, including 11 weighing over a carat, officials said.

“Mr. Lanik’s gem is about the size of a jellybean and has a dark brown color, similar to brandy,” Cox said in the release. “It has a beautiful natural pear shape and smooth, curved facets that give the gem a metallic shine.”

The news release didn’t include an estimated value for the diamond. Values of similarly sized diamonds can vary widely depending on quality, according to The Diamond Pro, a consumer website.

But the diamond isn’t for sale — yet.

Officials say Lanik plans to keep it as a souvenir and calls it the “Lanik Family Diamond.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2019 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Teacher finds 2-carat diamond in Arkansas – and there might be more, officials say."