A precious find: Australian man's 'gold' rock is an ancient meteorite
David Hole had a rock of considerable value in his home for several years. He found it near Melbourne, Australia. He thought it was gold, but it turned out that his find was much more valuable.
For many years, David Hole kept the rock he found near Melbourne at home, believing it concealed gold inside. To his surprise, his discovery proved to be much more precious.
The story, reported by focus.de, took place in 2015. Hole was exploring the area in Maryborough Regional Park at that time. At one point, his metal detector indicated a heavy, reddish rock embedded in the clay.
Hole took the chunk home, thinking it was a nugget. He had reason to believe this, as Maryborough is located in the Goldfields region, known for discoveries of large deposits of precious metals in the 19th century.
The Australian tried many methods to reach the metal. He used a rock saw, an angle grinder, a drill, and even acid. None of the methods could break the hard surface.
A valuable rock: He thought it was gold
After several years, Hole decided to take the chunk to the local museum to have it examined by specialists. It turned out it wasn't a nugget, but a rare meteorite from 4.6 billion years ago. Research indicated that it probably landed on Earth about 1,000 years ago.
The rock, now known as the Maryborough meteorite, weighed 38 lbs. Geologists from the museum explained that it is so heavy because it contains dense forms of iron and nickel, different from those found in earthly rocks.
One of the museum staff used a diamond saw to cut a piece of the meteorite. Inside, there were tiny, solidified droplets, remnants of silicate minerals crystallized from gas that formed the Solar System.
The stone found by Hole was a chondritic meteorite from the H5 group, which approximately 4.6 billion years ago orbited the Sun. Gravity gradually brought them together, leading to the formation of Earth and other rocky planets.
