Australian Man Thinks He Found Gold, But Discovers Meteorite 16 Times More Valuable, Surprising Scientists and Collectors

Written by Valdemar Medeiros

Published on 09/01/2025 at 10:08

(Imagem: Melbourne Museum/Divulgação)

39 people reacted to this.

Australian Finds 17 Kg Meteorite While Searching for Gold. The Rock, Billions of Years Old, Could Be Worth Up to 16 Times More Than Gold, Impressing Scientists.

In 2015, Australian David Hole, who has a habit of walking through the Goldfields region of Australia with a metal detector, thought he had found a gold nugget when he actually discovered a meteorite that is up to 16 times more valuable than gold, without necessarily realizing the nature of the rock. Thinking there was gold inside it, he tried everything to open the object, but without success.

Meteorite Found by Australian Weighs 17 Kg

When observing the resistance of the object, which is up to 16 times more valuable than gold, against all his gold hunting tools (even acid was poured on it, with no alteration), the Australian gave up and took the rock to the Melbourne Museum, where its nature was revealed to him by geologist Dermot Henry, who works at the institution.

The meteorite had this sculpted, somewhat drawn look, according to Henry. This happens when they pass through the atmosphere: the rocks begin to melt on their exterior, and the atmosphere sculpts them.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Where Did the Meteorite Found by the Australian Come From?

According to Henry, meteorites are the cheapest way to explore space. They take us back in time, bringing clues about the age, formation, and chemistry of our solar system, including Earth. Some even bring a sort of ‘window’ into the interior of our planet.

In some meteorites, there is still the presence of stardust, with particles older than our solar system, showing how stars form and evolve to create the elements of the periodic table.

The paper cannot state this categorically, but Henry believes that this meteorite, which is up to 16 times more valuable than gold, specifically, must have come from the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. The region is known in space studies as an area that contains a lot of material related to the early solar system, when Earth was still a large pile of chondrites. Eventually, gravity pulled them together, forming Earth, but some of these rocks escaped and ended up in the belt.

Understand Why the Australian Confused Meteorite with Gold

The confusion between the meteorite and gold can also be easily explained; the district of Maryborough, where the rock was found, is located in Goldfields, an area where, in the past, the peak of the Australian gold rush occurred. It is not uncommon for metal hunters like Australian David Hole to be common there, always with metal detectors in hand searching for a gold nugget to sell.

Henry argues that the man got lucky, as thousands of nuggets have already been found, but only 17 meteorites have been identified in the state of Victoria. However, even if the meteorite is up to 16 times more valuable than gold, in Australia, the law states that space artifacts are considered “property of the Crown.”

6 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

Built-in feedback

View all comments

Herbert

#114208

16/01/2025 13:50

Bla bla bla nada vem do espaço porque a terra e fechada por um domo

Respond

Ubiratan

#113728

15/01/2025 21:46

Eu acho que achei uma pedra menor que essa igualzinho

Respond

Washington

#113548

15/01/2025 17:05

Se fosse no Brasil, a rocha iria parar em um certo contêiner.

Respond

Australian Man Thinks He Found Gold, But Discovers Meteorite 16 Times More Valuable, Surprising Scientists and Collectors

Australian Finds 17 Kg Meteorite While Searching for Gold. The Rock, Billions of Years Old, Could Be Worth Up to 16 Times More Than Gold, Impressing Scientists.

Meteorite Found by Australian Weighs 17 Kg

Where Did the Meteorite Found by the Australian Come From?

Understand Why the Australian Confused Meteorite with Gold

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

Discovery in Africa scares even scientists: a study published on April 23 reveals that the crust in Turkana has become so thin that it could pave the way for the continent’s division and the emergence of an ocean in the future, in a gigantic geological transformation.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

Brazil spent R$ 1.9 billion on a giant bridge to Paraguay, and it is already finished, but no one can use it properly because the access points are not ready, and traffic remains blocked months later.

A R$11.9 billion train that promises to revolutionize mobility in São Paulo and make trips of about 1 hour gains new progress with the inclusion of another city in the project.

The reactors of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford produce 600 megawatts and could power an entire city.

As if a faucet had been opened in the ocean, warm water begins to reach Antarctica, breaks through the natural protection of the ice shelves, and intrigues scientists about the upcoming impacts on the global climate.

Brazil enters the era of engineered wood buildings alongside Canada, Sweden, Austria, and Norway, betting on a technology that promises faster construction, fewer emissions, and fire resistance that challenges concrete and steel.

War in Iran causes China to sell solar panels like never before, pushing 68 gigawatts to the world in just one month, while Middle Eastern oil becomes a global headache for suppliers desperate for alternatives.

Australian Man Thinks He Found Gold, But Discovers Meteorite 16 Times More Valuable, Surprising Scientists and Collectors

Australian Finds 17 Kg Meteorite While Searching for Gold. The Rock, Billions of Years Old, Could Be Worth Up to 16 Times More Than Gold, Impressing Scientists.

Meteorite Found by Australian Weighs 17 Kg

Where Did the Meteorite Found by the Australian Come From?

Understand Why the Australian Confused Meteorite with Gold

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

Discovery in Africa scares even scientists: a study published on April 23 reveals that the crust in Turkana has become so thin that it could pave the way for the continent’s division and the emergence of an ocean in the future, in a gigantic geological transformation.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

Brazil spent R$ 1.9 billion on a giant bridge to Paraguay, and it is already finished, but no one can use it properly because the access points are not ready, and traffic remains blocked months later.

A R$11.9 billion train that promises to revolutionize mobility in São Paulo and make trips of about 1 hour gains new progress with the inclusion of another city in the project.

A cyclone arrives in Brazil with gusts of up to 60 km/h, dropping temperatures, intensifying the thermal sensation, and advancing with a cold air mass; high pressure brings even colder dawns until May.

Farm road: Is it your neighbor’s, the municipality’s, or yours? Understand when the gate can close, when passage becomes a right, and why a simple padlock can lead to a heavy fine.

Residents of Santa Catarina are building bunkers in the middle of the forest with food stock, solar energy, and a structure to survive isolated for more than a year without depending on anyone.

At seventy-three years old, Lourdes Del Guingaro fulfills a childhood dream, getting into medicine after having already studied geography and architecture, and shows that it’s never too late to start over, with family support and the goal of graduating.

A R$11.9 billion train that promises to revolutionize mobility in São Paulo and make trips of about 1 hour gains new progress with the inclusion of another city in the project.

The reactors of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford produce 600 megawatts and could power an entire city.

As if a faucet had been opened in the ocean, warm water begins to reach Antarctica, breaks through the natural protection of the ice shelves, and intrigues scientists about the upcoming impacts on the global climate.

Brazil enters the era of engineered wood buildings alongside Canada, Sweden, Austria, and Norway, betting on a technology that promises faster construction, fewer emissions, and fire resistance that challenges concrete and steel.

War in Iran causes China to sell solar panels like never before, pushing 68 gigawatts to the world in just one month, while Middle Eastern oil becomes a global headache for suppliers desperate for alternatives.