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A Minnesota couple recently found a 1.90-carat diamond while visiting an Arkansas state park, according to Bring Me The News.
Jessica and Seth Erickson of Chatfield were roadtripping through 11 states for their anniversary when they decided to go to the United State's only public diamond mine: Crater of Diamonds State Park. About an hour into searching, the two were sifting through the dirt when Seth found a diamond at the bottom of his screen.
"Although most diamonds are found after flipping gravel onto a flat surface, Seth first spotted a metallic-looking gem in the bottom of his screen after an hour of wet sifting. He knew right away it was a diamond and excitedly showed Jessica," Park interpreter Tayler Markham said.
The Crater of Diamonds has registered 581 diamonds in 2022, which comes out to an average of 1-2 diamonds being found at the park each day. According to Markham, wet sifting is the most common way to search for diamonds.
“Two screens are used to wet sift. The top screen has a bigger mesh size, one-quarter of an inch, while the bottom screen is smaller, about 1/16 of an inch. Guests submerge screen sets in water to wash away the soil. Once the soil is removed, the gravel is then separated by size and weight to make diamonds easier to find,” she explained.
The exact value of the diamond Seth found is now known yet.