A man from Queens, New York, leaves onlookers stunned as he hunts out bits of diamonds, rubies, platinum and gold from the sidewalk cracks of Midtown�s Diamond District.

Raffi Stepanian, 43, of Whitestone, comes armed with tweezers and a butter knife, and pans� the precious particles like an old-fashioned prospector-by hand, in a small metal basin with water and a strainer.

�The streets of 47th Street are literally paved with gold,� Stepanian told the New York Post.

�The freelance diamond setter explained that he was sifting through �very valuable� New York City mud for tiny diamond and ruby chips, bits of platinum, white-gold industrial loops for jewelry assembly, and gold earring backs and loops from broken chains, watches, broaches and necklaces-all carelessly dropped.

�Material falls off clothes, on the bottom of shoes, it drops off jewelry, and it falls in the dirt and sticks to the gum on the street,� he explained.

Over six days, he says, he collected enough gold for two sales totaling 819 dollars on 47th Street-where he first got the idea to mine the sidewalks after finding gold scraps on the floor of a diamond exchange.�

READ MORE: NY POST