Finding Meteorites = Big Bucks

[SoulRaven]

Here is a great article on the how-why-where of hunting for&nbsp; meteorites while out boondocking...<br /><br />http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/aug/...paign=Sept+21+Newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email

 

[SirJoey]

<br /><span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;"><strong>This is something I'm hoping to get into, if I ever get "out there", so to speak. I purchased a fairly decent White's metal detector about a year &amp; a half ago, but I haven't had a chance to get out &amp; use it anywhere other than right here on my own property.</strong></span><br /><br /><br />

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Never thought of something like this. Thanks Steve for the link.

 

[blars]

I remember seeing a meteorite in a BLM office -- a mineral claim was filed and denied on it since it was bigger than the 200 pound limit.&nbsp; I think there was a court case about it, and the&nbsp; BLM won.

 

[joey]

According to that website,the limit as of 10/01/2012 - on BLM land,is 10 lbs.

 

[josephusminimus]

According to that website,the limit as of 10/01/2012 - on BLM land,is 10 lbs.

<br /><br />Might be fun, though, searching for them.&nbsp; Probably the person who finds something larger than 10 pounds will have to decide how to deal with it thereafter.&nbsp; For most it wouldn't be enough of an issue to require a lot of thought.&nbsp;

 

[joey]

I used to have a metal detector,and found some before,but I didn't know they were worth anything. Most of the fun comes from just being out there and enjoying the outdoors.

 

[caseyc]

I just read a recent article about this topic:<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Dismissed-rock-a-meteorite-after-all-3982409.php"><br /><br />http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Dismissed-rock-a-meteorite-after-all-3982409.php</a><br /><br />Excerpt:<br /><div style="text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none;">Cook is now offering one chip of his meteorite on eBay. It weighs 6.6 grams - about two-tenths of an ounce - and objects like it normally sell for about $100 a gram, he&nbsp;said<br /><br />Read more: <a style="color: #003399;" href="http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Dismissed-rock-a-meteorite-after-all-3982409.php#ixzz2APxEaHxC">http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Dismissed-rock-a-meteorite-after-all-3982409.php#ixzz2APxEaHxC</a></div>

 

[Guest]

Interesting that at the Quartzite Gem and Mineral show...there was a booth with about a dozen really good size metal meteorites. My friend Jon B was looking to buy one because as a knifemaker/blacksmith he has people wanting a knife made from the nickle/steel/iron... whatever they are made of... they were pretty expensive alright but not as much as I thought...<br /><br />Also have a friend here who prospects for them, and he said that since the opening of the former Soviet Union states where many are found...there has been a flooding of the market and the value has really dipped....dunno for sure though....<br />Bri

 

[StarEcho]

At the very end of the article in the link they give the new BLM policies on meteorites which say that you can't sell those you collect unless you pay for a permit to collect to sell. &nbsp;So unless you pay for a permit, finding any with your metal detector is good only as something you can collect. &nbsp;Not sell on e-bay. &nbsp; I swear I just looked this up recently for public lands or federal lands and from what I read any found on federal lands belong to the Smithsonian, although they may pay you a finders fee. &nbsp;There is a lot to learn from meteorites...where it came from, it's composition, etc. &nbsp;I recently attended a lecture by a meteor / meteorite expert and his focus of the lecture was the all sky cameras and the network he belongs to. &nbsp;<a href="http://allsky.ca/index.html">http://allsky.ca/index.html</a>&nbsp; The cameras help them figure out where the meteors might land and they can then search for the meteorites. &nbsp;He works for a museum. &nbsp;It was very interesting. &nbsp;If you are interested in making your own camera there is info here&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cloudbait.com/projects/allskycamera.html">http://www.cloudbait.com/projects/allskycamera.html</a>&nbsp;as well as a lot of other places on the internet. &nbsp;<br /><br />As an aside re the price of meteorites, I went to the recent Trinity Day in New Mexico. &nbsp;I had been told that there was a place that sells trinitite (the radiated rock that resulted from the nuclear explosion). &nbsp;Several days later on my way back from touring around the area, I managed to pass the little rock store out in the middle of nowhere that sells the trinitite... for $30 per gram....the tinest little chip was $20. &nbsp;I passed. &nbsp;Didn't care THAT much. &nbsp;LOL &nbsp;<br /><br />I know that's not a meteorite and this thread is meteorite, but my point is how ridiculous the prices are for these things. &nbsp;Supply and demand I guess (both meteorites and trinitite are scarce -- in the trinitites case thankfully) but still...intrinsically neither is valuable, per se, but I think it's more along the lines of "I have something you don't have" type of valuable, which isn't really value IMO.

 

[Guest]

Hi StarEcho, I was at the Trinity site also. Very weird. I mostly watched the hordes of people and listened in on some very interesting conversations as I was sitting waiting for my friends to finish their viewing the site and area....<br />Bri