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Man Keeps Rock For Years, Hoping It's Gold. It Turns Out to Be Far More Valuable
Science Alert ^ | 25 Nov 2022 | JACINTA BOWLER

Posted on 11/26/2022 5:59:17 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT

In 2015, David Hole was prospecting in Maryborough Regional Park near Melbourne, Australia.

Armed with a metal detector, he discovered something out of the ordinary – a very heavy, reddish rock resting in some yellow clay.

He took it home and tried everything to open it, sure that there was a gold nugget inside the rock – after all, Maryborough is in the Goldfields region, where the Australian gold rush peaked in the 19th century.

To break open his find, Hole tried a rock saw, an angle grinder, a drill, even dousing the thing in acid. However, not even a sledgehammer could make a crack. That's because what he was trying so hard to open was no gold nugget.

As he found out years later, it was a rare meteorite.

"I've looked at a lot of rocks that people think are meteorites," Henry told Channel 10 News.

In fact, after 37 years of working at the museum and examining thousands of rocks, Henry said only two of the offerings had ever turned out to be real meteorites.

This was one of the two.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Chit/Chat; Hobbies; Humor; Outdoors; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; australia; melbourne; meteor; meteorite; meteorites; meteors; rock; science
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Finders keepers?
1 posted on 11/26/2022 5:59:17 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I don’t know why it would be called valuable, because I’m seeing prices for about $2.50/gm, which doesn’t suggest high value.

It’d be worth about $8500, based on its weight. That’s a nice bonus cheque, but hardly in the realm of diamonds or gold.


2 posted on 11/26/2022 6:07:39 PM PST by Jonty30 (You can't spell liberal without the a-hole. )
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To: DUMBGRUNT
I thought I had found a meteorite, once.

It turned out to be ilmenite ejecta from a local volcano.

3 posted on 11/26/2022 6:18:48 PM PST by marktwain
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To: Jonty30

“It’d be worth about $8500, based on its weight. That’s a nice bonus cheque, but hardly in the realm of diamonds or gold.”

17 kg x 1000g/Kg x $2.50/g = $ 42,500

Seems that the value depends more on the rarity of the type of meteorite, some going for less, some for much more.


4 posted on 11/26/2022 6:30:54 PM PST by Notthemomma ( )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I know a jeweler who handcrafts meteors into wedding bands. Very pretty.


5 posted on 11/26/2022 6:34:57 PM PST by lurk (u)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

At least it would have been worth something, had it not been for the:

rock saw
angle grinder
drill
acid
sledgehammer

;)


6 posted on 11/26/2022 6:47:27 PM PST by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: DUMBGRUNT
Remember the Andromeda Strain? Andromeda came from a meteor.

In the movie Life, Calvin came from a meteor.

In the movie Green Slime...the Green Slime came from a meteor.

The point? Bad things come from meteors.

7 posted on 11/26/2022 6:49:39 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: Notthemomma

You’re right. For some reason, I multiplied by 1/10 its weight.


8 posted on 11/26/2022 6:49:53 PM PST by Jonty30 (You can't spell liberal without the a-hole. )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

All he needed to do was try to stick a magnet to it.


9 posted on 11/26/2022 6:50:31 PM PST by zeebee ( The left thinks they can train smart people to be stupid.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I hope he didn’t lick his fingers, touch it then lick his fingers again.


10 posted on 11/26/2022 6:56:48 PM PST by RedMonqey
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To: ealgeone
You forgot the most heinous meteor borne pestilence of all time!
11 posted on 11/26/2022 7:01:59 PM PST by CTyank
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To: CTyank

12 posted on 11/26/2022 7:05:18 PM PST by CTyank
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To: DUMBGRUNT
Well, he'll wind up being a super villain like Vandal Savage or a Super hero like the Atom.



13 posted on 11/26/2022 7:05:56 PM PST by Dr. Sivana (What was 35% of the Rep. Party is now 85%. And it’s too late to turn back—Mac Stipanovich )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

My family has always been rock lovers and our rock-lined deck-top railings are proof of that fact. My mother recently passed away, and I told my sisters in jest that the only thing we would probably argue about was who got the rocks.

After working for several weeks to clean out the house (all with no argument), we finally came to the outside deck to divide up the rocks. There are a couple that might possibly be from a meteor since it it documented that a meteorite hit the property about a half a mile back from my folks’ property back in the 40s. One of the meteors from that site is in a museum.

When we went to look at the rocks, one was obviously missing. It was a large quartz crystal rock that mother had found when we were clearing the property back in the 1960s when they first purchased the place. That quartz rock has been a door stopper, a decoration, and the “treasure” we as kids searched for as we had our pretend adventures as children. I know it was there the weekend my mother passed away, since I remember looking at it while sitting outside one night trying to pull myself together knowing her time was near.

It really ticks me off that someone stole that rock and if I find out who has it, I will make sure they are prosecuted and haunted for the remainder of their sorry life!


14 posted on 11/26/2022 7:10:18 PM PST by CFW
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To: zeebee

—”All he needed to do was try to stick a magnet to it.”

Better for him he kept it around and found its value.


15 posted on 11/26/2022 7:19:23 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT ( "The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last messa)
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To: lurk
"I know a jeweler who handcrafts meteors into wedding bands."

What idiot wastes a perfectly good meteorite on something as frivolous as jewelry?

Made from a chunk of the 4.5653 billion year-old the Swedish Muonionalusta Meteorite

16 posted on 11/26/2022 7:19:39 PM PST by Paal Gulli
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To: Empire_of_Liberty

—”At least it would have been worth something, had it not been for the:

rock saw
angle grinder
drill
acid
sledgehammer”

NOT TO WORRY!
It will buff out with the right compounds and tools!

It’s a rock and they tend to be lumpy.


17 posted on 11/26/2022 7:22:56 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT ( "The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last messa)
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To: CTyank

??


18 posted on 11/26/2022 7:27:10 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: CTyank
ah yes....forgot about this one!

love the opening song....beware of the blob...

19 posted on 11/26/2022 7:28:16 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone

Don’t forget the Blob, staring Steve McQueen.

Also, War of the Worlds, espoecially the 1950s version. When that priest/reverend gets xrayed when he goes up to the crater, I cried like a little boy (because I was).


20 posted on 11/26/2022 7:33:53 PM PST by Alas Babylon! (Rush, we're missing your take on all of this!)
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