Wis. Gold Miner Finds 1.22-Carat Diamond in Sediment From Well
Even though panning for “Wisconsin Gold,” which the New Richmond News reports generally consists of flakes that don’t amount to much, doesn’t result in a large payload, that hasn’t stopped Dan Fagnan from sifting. This time, it actually paid off though.
The St. Croix County man last week thought he had found a piece of glass, according to the newspaper, but it was really a 1.22-carat diamond.

Dan Fagnan holds his 1.22-carat diamond that will be fashioned into a necklace. (Image: New Richmond Herald)
Owner Karen Greaton tested the stone to see if it was a diamond. Sure enough, her test equipment indicated it was, but Greaton was skeptical.Fagnan was sifting through materials from a friend’s newly drilled well when he found the stone. Taking it to a jeweler, it was confirmed as a diamond. But even the jeweler was second guessing herself as it was an unusual place to find such a precious stone:
She thought the stone could be moissanite, or silicon carbide. But even that test indicated it was a diamond.
“My dad told me it’s unlikely to find a diamond here, but diamonds can actually be found anywhere in the world,” Greaton said. Most often, diamonds are formed near volcanoes, where minerals and heat combine to create the hard substance.
The New Richmond News reports it is thought this one was brought down by a glacier during the Ice Age from near a Canadian volcano.
Greaton’s Designing Jewelers is putting the stone into a necklace for Fagnan’s unborn child. The diamond will remain raw because the jewelers said cutting it appropriately would reduce its size by 60 percent.
Fagnan said he was previously thought to be a “fruit loop” for his gold digging endeavors.
(H/T: Yahoo! News)
In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.


















































































































ronin_6
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 5:04pmWisconsin the new South Africa
Report this comment
DrBadAss
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:52pmCongratulations on your find sir!!! The IRS would like to have a word with you now…..
Report this comment
MaleneSBrown
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:36pmMy kids and I love to go digging for gemstones. It’s not easy, and we haven’t found any thing thats really worth much. But It’s fun. My husband thinks it’s silly.
Report this comment
ShyMan
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 5:43pmIt is fun. We enjoy it too.
Report this comment
forthepeople
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:18pmand the point is ………. ?
Report this comment
FightingBear
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:01pmWhy do people today have the need to inform the media…or anybody about this kind of stuff.
If I foyund it, I’d quietly slip it in my pocket and continue working. No one would ever know.
Report this comment
schroeder123
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:01pmI found a bag of gold coins once.
Oh yea…and as I was prospecting in Nevada, I was in a blind canyon…can’t remember exactly where, but I ran across a solid vain of pure gold. I got lost and never found it again.
Report this comment
banjarmon
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 3:12pmHe didn’t find that diamond… BHO did!!
Report this comment
Ben__Franklin
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 3:56pmObama said “He didn’t sift that”…..the nearby roads and bridges sifted that for him.
Report this comment
SocialistSlayer
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:24pmYou can bet the Government will now tax its share – obama needs a new pair of shoes!
Report this comment
txjb
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:56pmPeople need to stop telling off on themselves , keep quiet about things.
Report this comment
coyote1hell
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:46pmBig “(o)” has already filed a law suit for “possesion” against him….
Report this comment
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:33pmTalk about lucky. I guess persistence pays off.
Report this comment
00100111
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:32pmAnd how soon will the Obama administration make him disappear?
Report this comment
lylejk
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:31pmWell deBeers doesn’t own this area; maybe time to start mining and kick their monopoly down to size. :)
Report this comment
jman-6
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 3:14pmYou hit that one on the head! Anyone who buys a De’queers “blood diamond” is contributing to a REAL “colonial extortion of a 3rd world nation” as well as having blood on there hands of many innocent people! p.s. You know its a real extortion cuz O’scama is no where to be found!
Report this comment
stumpy68
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 10:05pmDiamonds are not rare if every diamond mined in the last 50 years was dumped on the
market Cubic-Zirconia would be worth more than diamonds on top of that lab made ones
even look better
Report this comment
Wool-Free Vision
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:31pm“Greaton’s Designing Jewelers is putting the stone into a necklace for Fagnan’s unborn child.”
Consider it a small recompense for having been born into such an unfortunate surname.
Report this comment
jman-6
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 3:15pmFunny but your so wrong! lol
Report this comment
MaleneSBrown
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:34pmIf you think thats funny, you ought to hear my real last name.
Report this comment
MaleneSBrown
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:38pmIts not as bad as Fagnan though.
Report this comment
mcsledge
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:26pmI hope that he owned the mineral rights to that land or he is going to have it taken from him (unfortunately).
Report this comment
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:18pmWonderful indeed.
Report this comment
progressiveslayer
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:15pmThat’s a great find but I wonder what kind of tax or claim the government will make on the stone?
Report this comment
godlovinmom
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:12pmokay I’m gonna start digging up my back yard.
Report this comment
OhioRifleman
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:32pm@Renear
I believe I have a stake in a bridge south of me that I would like to sell you…
Report this comment
godlovinmom
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:56pmwould love to buy that bridge…unfortunately I’m in oregon…lol
Report this comment
OhioRifleman
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 3:10pm@ God Lovin’ Mom
LOL :)
Just trolling the spammers.
Report this comment
Ben__Franklin
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:04pmI already started digging in your back yard mom. Go find somewhere else. I am “occupying” this space now! “You didn’t dig that…”
Report this comment
Patriot Z
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:11pmi KNEW i left that lump of coal santa gave me someplace. good job congrats to him!
Report this comment
DrIvey
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:09pmMore like a Lucky Charm than a Froot Loop.
Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:04pmGood for him! And may God bless his child!
Report this comment
Oneirishman
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 2:02pmHow about an approximate value?
Report this comment
ONLY4UANDME
Posted on October 16, 2012 at 1:57pmHe reminds me of the little engine that could.
Report this comment