New Iron Meteorite potential in Arizona?


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Del I have a complete falling apart rust ball munionlusta (sp?) that could be a twin :blink: . I also have shale balls from Wolf Creek that would fool an expert if they didn't know where they came from :wacko: ? I also wouldn't be so quick to declare Lunks mothers find a space rock unless it's from a known find :blush: ??

Gotcha John, I'm sure you know how iron meteorite finds are. Unless it's obvious a find is debatable since there's so much man made junk out there that can easily be mistaken for one. Certainly not like chondrites where a window is usually a dead give away.

Del

Goldstudmuffin- That's a beauty! Congrats on that find.

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Hi Del

Yeah ordinary chondrites are pretty easy to ID with a window if other give away indicators aren't present. Irons may or may not etch patterns. The weathering of their exteriors can be so variable by moisture and soil PH that even within a given strewn field there are many variable appearances of the same material. Unless the iron is sizable cut, polished then etches a pattern it's still almost a requirement to present a lab with a Ni assay just to get them to look at it. I'm certain most labs look at buckets of scrap iron annually thought to be meteorites by their finders. Although some serious well known finder/hunters might get some courtesies not normally given John Q Public by labs that have worked with them before.

PS Congrads on your induction into the elite group.

Happy Huntin John B.

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Hi AZOverland

If you've studied the Tucson meteorites (Ring or Carlton) both were drug to Tucson from an unknown location , One was heated to try and melt ( Carlton) then used as anvils for a number of years. Do you really think they had much fusion crust or rust shale left on their exteriors :unsure: ??? Fred is correct meteorites are named after the locations of their find , towns, rivers, mountains or other natural nearby geological monuments. I found King Tut, Dos Cabezas, White Elephant( not named after Russ or I) :rolleyes: , Hualapia wash 021 Primm Dry lake. Several are probably strewnfields but are mixed within strewnfields or access denied areas. I have 2 new achondrites at ASU being classified and a box with a dozen or so more individual new finds waiting to find someone to classify. If you wish to learn about strewnfields Gold Basin was 3 years of Jim Kreigh, Twink Monrad and my hard work hunting, logging and mapping for the U of A.

Trust me I'm not the one confused :blink: !! I'll be teaching Gold Studmuffin the fine art of strewnfield hunting, logging and mapping as the weather cools down. :mellow: Happy Huntin John B.

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Guest goldstudmuffin

Hey Russ,

If you only knew how many of those pieces you posted I toss out detecting from Quartzite East you would be amazed. Seeing what you have I know I have found handfuls of meteorites that got tossed back on the ground. I'm far from the meteorite expert, so probably need to keep more of these "strange finds". I have boxes of Gold Basins, some Franconias, a few Canyon Diablo's and some other stuff that probably needs to be looked at some time.

I know back in the mid-90's I found a very nice sized iron meteorite with thumb prints around the Quartzsite area, but tossed it back on the ground. I knew nothing at that time about meteorites and my focus was gold nuggets with my new SD2100. I went back several times looking for this pieces, that was probably softball size, but was a bit longer in length. I could never locate the exact spot, even though I knew I was within 100 yards or so from where I found it. It's amazing after 10 years how the ground and vegitation will change in one location.

Will keep you all updated on what I found out about this piece. It was not found in a mining area, no trash around, so that is what sparked my interest in the find. I was not prospecting for gold.

Rob Allison

Hi Rob,

I did the same thing... tossed lots of hot rocks and never gave it another thought. Lucky for us John B. come along and told us how to ID a meteorite, I thought great now instead of kicking them down the hill I have to pick them up and study them.

Good luck with your iron, that would be a fantastic find, let us know.

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Guest goldstudmuffin

Gotcha John, I'm sure you know how iron meteorite finds are. Unless it's obvious a find is debatable since there's so much man made junk out there that can easily be mistaken for one. Certainly not like chondrites where a window is usually a dead give away.

Del

Goldstudmuffin- That's a beauty! Congrats on that find.

Thanks Del.... When I dug that one up I said... Come to PAPA!

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Guest goldstudmuffin

Sounds like Gold Stud is really lucky to spend time in the feild with you. Your reputation as one of the most seasoned and successful electric Arizona prospectors proceeds you. Thanks for the little education in this thread.

Hi AZOverland...John B. is very knowledgeable about meteorites and gold, and more than willing to help a friend in need, especially when it comes to cleaning nugget patches and strewnfields! :D

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Studmiffin that is a very nice find you have there, it is a joy and honor to have a training from the big guy JB.He shares and has a golden pointy fingure to boot,

Rob I think yours is a rust ball .Did you see the peanut on the side it was a give away :D

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Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the comments. Either way I'm loosing any sleep over if it's a meteorite or not. Just thought I would toss it on the forum and see what you all have to say about it. I've seen stuff that looks like a meteorite over the years, but turned out to be rusted parts and such. I've also seen stuff that don't look like a typical meteorite and it was for sure a meteorite. Some day I will get this piece checked out or allow someone to look at it in person.

I've found enough of them over the years that I can say it's not my thing. I'm sure if I found a new find or a rare one I might change my tone. If one happens to be in my path while out detecting I will surely pick it up, but I'm not heading out to the nearest salt lake or such looking for meteorites.

Thanks for all your help and comments.

Rob Allison

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I would test it with a neodymium magnet, if it is very attracted to it and difficult to separate, I would guess rusty iron. Are the iron meteorites as attracted to neodymium magnets? My thinking is that they were more weakly attracted.

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Hey but come on. let's get real. Everyone knows what a mean ol' Son of a Bitch John B. is.

I mean like the numerous times we had outings at Gold Basin and that bastard would bring T Bone steaks for everyone, EVERYONE! And then would not accept so much as a penny to help pay for all of that meat. I'm telling ya' the guy is a real prick.

John B.'s steak and Aunt Dodacious' beans, man those were the days.

I wish I had more friends like John B. :rolleyes: As the Aussies say, "His blood is worth bottling."

Doc

Hi AZOverland...John B. is very knowledgeable about meteorites and gold, and more than willing to help a friend in need, especially when it comes to cleaning nugget patches and strewnfields! :D

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Hey but come on. let's get real. Everyone knows what a mean ol' Son of a Bitch John B. is.

I mean like the numerous times we had outings at Gold Basin and that bastard would bring T Bone steaks for everyone, EVERYONE! And then would not accept so much as a penny to help pay for all of that meat. I'm telling ya' the guy is a real prick.

John B.'s steak and Aunt Dodacious' beans, man those were the days.

I wish I had more friends like John B. :rolleyes: As the Aussies say, "His blood is worth bottling."

Doc

What a Rat Bazztard! :spank::rolleyes::D

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Hi Doc, Russ and All

Mr Goldstudmuffin Russ quite sounding like a suck up :huh: !! Kind words won't get you in to my most secret patches :) . Doc those steaks were from a road killed horse :blush: !! I didn't want to let flicka go to waste as buzzard bait :unsure: !! I probably should have paid you to eat them :mellow: !! It's amazing what a good camp cook like Lenny or Mike can do with dog chow ;) !! Happy Huntin John B

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Hey but come on. let's get real. Everyone knows what a mean ol' Son of a Bitch John B. is.

I mean like the numerous times we had outings at Gold Basin and that bastard would bring T Bone steaks for everyone, EVERYONE! And then would not accept so much as a penny to help pay for all of that meat. I'm telling ya' the guy is a real prick.

Besides being a prick he is also

a Elephat trainer, bordallo inspector, and not too shabby of a boxer with all those jabs he throws :lol:

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Hi Waytocool

I don't train elephants :mellow: !! I breed them :wub: , I particularly fond of the big females :D , they don't squeel or kick as much :( !!

Happy Huntin John B.

:lol::lol::lol: Hey me too :lol::lol::lol:

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well what do I know, but my guess it is a badly oxidized "nut" off of a bolt or a rod as there seems to be an outline of a grove. js

Does everyone but me know wht a "grove" is... cmon Jim?

I am betting with Jim, because i dont know what he is saying!

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:lol::lol::lol: Hey me too :lol::lol::lol:

thats because they have a long trunk so they can kiss you!

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  • 8 years later...

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