Diamonds are a GUY's best friend: Arkansas man finds $32,000 gem at state park after almost mistaking it for a coke bottle
A man has found a 4.39-carat diamond while sifting through gravel at an Arkansas state park.
Steven McCool, 34, was sifting through his eleventh bucket of dirt - 30 minutes before the Crater of Diamonds State Park was due to close - when he unearthed the yellow jewel.
'As my eyes were panning to it, I was thinking it could be an amber piece of glass like an old Coke bottle,' McCool said.
'Once I focused on it though, I knew it was a diamond. I was like 'No way! No way!''
Steven McCool, 34, is pictured holding up his $32,000 diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas
The price for one-carat of canary yellow diamond ranges between $6,500 and $8,000
McCool had found a '4.49-carat, sparkling, canary yellow diamond' around 'the size of a jelly bean' which seems to have great clarity, Crater of Diamonds State Park Assistant Superintendent Meghan Moore said.
The price for one-carat of canary yellow diamond ranges between $6,500 and $8,000.
McCool named the stone BamMam, using the initials of his children's names.
'What's more precious than a precious gem? My children. So, I named it after my children and the name will stay with the diamond forever,' McCool said.
He has not decided whether to keep it or sell it, Fox13 reported.
McCool has not decided whether he will sell the stone or keep it for himself
'I'm torn. I'm somewhat sentimental. It's my first diamond I found' he said. 'I am the first person to unearth this, the first person to touch it.
'It's hard to wrap my head around it. I am blown away by the clarity, the beauty, how rare it is. I'm definitely blessed, not lucky. It was the Lord's work.'
A diamond was first found at the park in 1906 and more than 75,000 have been unearthed since.
The park is the only diamond mine accessible to the public. The largest stone found there, dubbed 'Uncle Sam', weighed 40.23 carats.
One-hundred-and-seventy-one stones have been registered at the park by diamond hunters in 2020 alone, six of them weighing at least one carat each.
'Arkansas is the only state in the country that has a diamond mine open to the public,' said Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst.
'While many diamonds are found every year, it never ceases to be exciting! I hope Mr. McCool's story inspires even more people to visit Crater of Diamonds State Park.'