Amateur prospector's find in Victoria turns out to be ancient meteorite
David Hole stored a rock in his home for several years which turned out to be significantly valuable. He found it near Melbourne, Australia, believing it to be gold. However, his discovery turned out to be much more valuable than he initially thought.
David Hole kept a rock in his home for a long time, which he discovered in the vicinity of Melbourne, Australia. He was convinced that there was gold inside. However, to his surprise, the find turned out to be much more valuable.
According to the focus.de service, the event took place in 2015. At that time, Hole was exploring the terrain in Maryborough Regional Park. At one point, his metal detector signalled the presence of a heavy, reddish rock submerged in clay.
Hole took the lump to his home, believing he had found a nugget. His assumptions had solid grounds because Maryborough is located in the Goldfields region, which gained fame in the 19th century for the discovery of large deposits of precious metals.
The Australian undertook various attempts to access the precious metal. He used a rock saw, an angle grinder, a drill, and even acid. However, none of these methods could damage the hard surface.
He found a valuable rock
After several years, Hole decided to hand over the lump to the local museum so specialists could examine it. It turned out that it wasn't a nugget, but a rare 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite. Research showed that it most likely fell to Earth about a thousand years ago.
The rock, now known as the Maryborough meteorite, weighed 17 kilograms. Geologists at the museum explained that its large mass was due to the presence of dense forms of iron and nickel, which differ from those found in earthly rocks.
One of the museum staff used a diamond saw to cut a fragment of the meteorite. Inside, small solidified droplets were discovered. These were remnants of silicate minerals that crystallised from the gas from which the Solar System formed.
The stone discovered by Hole turned out to be an H5 chondrite meteorite, which orbited the Sun about 4.6 billion years ago. Due to the action of gravity, these meteorites gradually clumped together, leading to the formation of Earth and other rocky planets.
