A Nebraska teacher’s summer vacation appears to be going great after he made a sparkly discovery.

Last Wednesday, Josh Lanik, 36, was sightseeing with his family of four when he noticed a modest, brandy-coloured gem at the aptly-named Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Ark.

"It was blatantly obvious there was something different about it," he said, according to a press release from the park on Monday. "I saw the shine, and when I picked it up and rolled it in my hand, I noticed there weren't any sharp edges."

His family had spent two hours in the area and the long-time teacher and coach at Thayer Central Elementary showed the jelly-bean-sized stone to his wife Stephanie.

He put the gem into his sack alongside other stones he’d found but didn’t think much else. But he discovered what he’d unearthed when they stopped by the Diamond Discovery Centre.

“(A park employee there) wouldn’t tell us whether it was a diamond, but we were pretty sure from her reaction that it was,” Lanik recalled.

In fact, he had stumbled upon a 2.12-carat diamond -- the largest one found the park in 2019.

In the same press release, park interpreter Waymon Cox said rainfall likely helped to expose the diamond, adding “it has a beautiful natural pear shape and smooth, curved facets that give the gem a metallic shine."


296 DIAMONDS WERE REGISTERED THERE IN 2019

The trip to the state park was part of the family’s goal of seeing every state in the U.S., according to News Channel Nebraska. "We chose Arkansas this year, because it was something more local and drivable," Lanik told the outlet.

He chose the state park after a coworker’s recommendation and they had found the gem in the park’s 37.5-acre diamond-search area, which is plowed once a month where paying visitors can dig around in.

The park has a “finders keepers” policy and, for now, Lanik said they plan on keeping their newly dubbed Lanik Family Diamond.

Lanik can count himself among the lucky group who’ve found diamonds at the park over the years. In 2019, 296 diamonds have been registered at the park, all weighing a combined total of 53.94 carats.

According to the park, more than 75,000 diamonds have been found there since 1906.

In fact, the park states that the largest diamond ever discovered in the U.S. was unearthed there during a mining operation 1924. That white diamond with pink highlights was 40.23 carats.