I may have found a couple of meteorites

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A user has been exploring a creek for potential meteorites, having found three candidates using a metal detector. Initial tests ruled one out, while the other two appear promising, resembling iron meteorites. They have conducted various tests, including rub tests and vinegar exposure, to determine the nature of the rocks. The user is considering using muriatic acid for further testing, noting its effectiveness in reacting with metals. Discussions include the properties of hydrochloric acid and alternative methods for testing, such as the streak test on ceramic surfaces, which indicated that one sample might be magnetite. The creek's geological history, influenced by past floods, suggests the potential for finding gold and other valuable minerals. The conversation also touches on the chemistry of cleaning metals with vinegar and salt, with users sharing personal experiences and insights about their findings and testing methods. The importance of density tests and the potential for discovering other metals in the creek is emphasized, along with the excitement of exploring uncharted territories for valuable finds.
  • #91
Ivan Seeking said:
Yeah, that was definitely news to me. I knew it was highly unlikely that one might go out and find one in fifteen minutes, but I also was under the impression that if you spend a good amount of time looking, sooner or later you're likely to find one. Not so. At least, not in Oregon.
Did he happen to mention where the most meteorites are found?
What makes me cringe a bit is to think that for about seventeen summers, we've walked that creek and looked very carefully for quartz, petrified wood, and semi-precious stones. And we've found about five, five-gallon buckets full of those treasures. But it never occurred to me before that we should be looking for meteorites as well.
Seriously, if you have quartz you may well have gold/silver. Of course, it's going to be fine particles, but I think it would be worth it to do some panning.
 
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  • #92
zoobyshoe said:
Did he happen to mention where the most meteorites are found?

No.

[qsuote]Seriously, if you have quartz you may well have gold/silver. Of course, it's going to be fine particles, but I think it would be worth it to do some panning.

I told you my solution there. I have a guy who will do all the work and split any finds. Trust is an issue, but assuming that can be managed, it works for me. Doing it myself sounds like too much like work and not enough like fun. :biggrin:
 
  • #93
Ivan Seeking said:
I told you my solution there. I have a guy who will do all the work and split any finds. Trust is an issue, but assuming that can be managed, it works for me. Doing it myself sounds like too much like work and not enough like fun. :biggrin:
Yes, but you said he never got back to you. I, personally, would want to check and see if there is any there at all, even if you don't feel like trying to recover it.
 
  • #94
zoobyshoe said:
Did he happen to mention where the most meteorites are found?

Antarctica and deserts, for the obvious reason that in these environments they are, well, obvious.
 
  • #95
Ivan Seeking said:
As it turns out, 99.8% of all potential finds are leaverites.

Even if it winds up NOT being anything worth money, don't call it a leaverite! I would still put it on my fireplace mantle in a place of honor. This has been a fun thread to follow, and the rocks would make a GREAT conversation piece. It is far more interesting than MY "meteorite." It looks like a golf ball (meteorites aren't round) and it is non magnetic. But I keep my "meteorite" on the fireplace mantle anyway. Although I can still hear my dad's voice in my head muttering it is a leaverite.

Your meteorites/rocks/whatever don't qualify as leaverites in my book.
 
  • #96
zoobyshoe said:
Yes, but you said he never got back to you. I, personally, would want to check and see if there is any there at all, even if you don't feel like trying to recover it.

True, and I have a customer who has also been pushing me to check for gold. When I mentioned the other interested party, he said he would bring his kit down next time, so I should have a chance to take a look for myself. However, I'm not about to spend my time panning for gold. I'll have a CAT D8 in here before that happens. :biggrin: But I think any real evidence of gold would have the first guy here with his equipment, almost immediately.
 
  • #97
Ms Music said:
Even if it winds up NOT being anything worth money, don't call it a leaverite! I would still put it on my fireplace mantle in a place of honor. This has been a fun thread to follow, and the rocks would make a GREAT conversation piece. It is far more interesting than MY "meteorite." It looks like a golf ball (meteorites aren't round) and it is non magnetic. But I keep my "meteorite" on the fireplace mantle anyway. Although I can still hear my dad's voice in my head muttering it is a leaverite.

Your meteorites/rocks/whatever don't qualify as leaverites in my book.

:smile: Tsu and I have been planning to put in a new rock retaining wall, about 40 feet long, along the back of the house. We are thinking about taking our buckets of treasures mentioned and embedding them in the face of the wall [the treasures, not the buckets :biggrin:].
 
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