It seems like panning for gold would have died after the gold rush, but one man who continues the hobby got pretty lucky. He found a diamond in the mud of his friend's well.
Dan Fagnan of St. Croix County, Wisconsin enjoys panning for gold even though some may think it's a waste of time. For Fagnan, one gold panning outing turned out to be quite worth it. He found a 1.22 carat diamond in his friend's 120-foot well which was recently drilled.
Fagnan's usual finds include tiny flakes of gold that aren't worth much.
"Everyone thinks I'm a fruit loop for panning for gold," he told the New Richmond News.
However, when his friend gave him the chance to go digging for gold through the muddy minerals that were dug up from the 120-foot deep well, Fagnan seized the opportunity.
He came across a shiny, transparent rock which he thought may have been a piece of glass at first. Upon further inspection, he decided to bring it to a local jewelry shop and he was told that what he found wasn't just a rock or a piece of glass-it was a diamond.
The shop owner, Karen Greaton tested it and found that it was a diamond, but she wasn't positive as it is rare to find diamonds in the area as they are usually found near volcanoes.
"My dad told me it's unlikely to find a diamond here, but diamonds can actually be found anywhere in the world," Greaton told New Richmond News.
She sent the diamond to a mineralogist who confirmed that the stone was indeed a diamond.
The diamond may have wound up in Wisconsin after possible volcanic activity in Canada which pushed the jewel down south after the ice age. The jewels form near volcanoes due to the amount of minerals and heat.
While the jewel may be valuable, Fagnan has no plans to sell it. He is having Greaton's Designing Jewelers turn the diamond into a necklace for his soon-to-be-born child, according to New Richmond News.
"I know these gals down here do pretty good work," he said of the jewelers.
The jewelers will not cut the diamond as 60 percent of it would be lost. They will place it in a "cage" that will display the diamond on the necklace.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
