Iron meteorite

[Mr Boring]

WOW lefty...thats unreal!! were they wearing black suits?

 

[Mr Boring]

Did one of them look like "Will Smith"?

 

[Lefty]

Dunno but when Greg told them to rack off, they couldn't have it they told him he couldn't stop them from taking it - by law it belonged to the government.

 

[Mr Boring]

i assume they had a "warrant for search of premises"....golden girls is on...I need to go

 

[Lefty]

i assume they had a "warrant for search of premises"

I'm repeating what a mate of my father told me. I'm uncertain of the exact legislation regarding the matter in Queensland and what degree of overlapping jurisdiction there might be with the federal government. However.......

he 1145kg Mundrabilla Meteorite in the foyer of the South Australian Museum. The first pieces of the Mundrabilla Meteorite were found in 1911, with two more large fragments discovered in 1966 by a couple of surveyors working in the area. Still later in 1979, two more large fragments were found about 20 km east of the 1966 location. This meteorite remains the largest mass recovery found in Australia. The Mundrabilla Meteorite is believed to have originated from the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. Although state laws vary, in Western and South Australia meteorites are held under a statutory obligation and deemed to belong to the state, therefore, unfortunately if you were to discover one you would not be allowed to retain ownership. However, small meteorite fragments can legally be sold within these states.

Link here

Exactly what constitutes "small meteorite fragments which can be legally sold" versus one of a size that this article suggests will indeed cause it to be confiscated doesn't seem clear here. So how big are yours? Perhaps you could place a call to the relevant authorities, tell them about your stash and wait and see if you get at knock on the door

...golden girls is on...I need to go

I think that sums up why you're called Mr Boring

 

[Mr Boring]

lol, cheers Lefty, Im feeling brave on this topic so, maybe ill list one on ebay and see what happens. :/
I will call it an "Outback" meteorite so as not to disclose which State its actually from. (No not "Outback`s" meteorite!!! ) It could have come up in the prawn nets in International waters?

 

[Lefty]

It could have come up in the prawn nets in International waters?

I reckon I'd go with that one :lol:

For what it's worth, it seems like a ridiculous law to me. I can sort of understand why governments might want ownership of any extraterrestrial objects found on their sovereign territory but it still seems unjustified they might in some cases seek to to confiscate it from the finder.

 

[Mr Boring]

Na Ill just hold onto them.. Having trouble enough finding and listing alone anyway. Listing 6 grams approx. tomorrow including a nice little 3.2g nug (will probably go down to 3.1 after pulling it from the acid)

 

[Outback]

They come under each States heritage laws ( FMD ~ HERITAGE ) what a crock of BS ! they fall where ever depending on the Earths spin
I cant find a single case thats been prosecuted regarding this ?

?????

 

[Lefty]

From another prospecting forum...

A number of years ago I picked up a odd looking rock by a mates fathers shed, it had these 20mm deep cracks in it the could only be caused by extream heat and the surface also has spots of rust on it.

I took the rock home to show the old man who was a rock hound and his opinion was it was a lump of iron ore that had been heated. he later took it to the Adelaide Museum where it was confirmed to be a Metiorite and also confiscated due to the fact that all Metiorites are protected by the south Australian Hertage act.

Link here

But this is only heresay of course.

A few comments down in the same link, a reference to a different meteorite discovery.....

Queensland Museum curator Dr Alex Cook has expressed interest in the rock, which he said is almost certainly a stony meteorite.

He said while Queensland, unlike other states, has no laws that grants ownership of meteorites to authorities or museums, he would like to analyse a 20 per cent portion of the rock.

This suggests that you should be able to keep meteorites found in Queensland - and also that some other states can indeed confiscate them if they wish. But does the federal government have any overriding jurisdiction I wonder?

 

[Lefty]

Double post deleted

 

[Lefty]

But does the federal government have any overriding jurisdiction I wonder?

It appears that they do under certain circumstances......

Australian Federal Meteorite Law

As previously mentioned, it is illegal to send any meteorite overseas which has been found in Australia. Meteorites fall under the category where an export permit or clearance letter MUST be obtained to export. This falls under:

Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Regulations (1987),
Statutory Rules 1987 No. 149 as amended, made under the,
Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act (1986)
Schedule 1: National cultural heritage control list categories of objects (regulation 4)
Part 3: Natural Science Objects

3.4: Objects in this category are Class B objects for the Act, and include:
(g) any meteorite;

The person in question is a manufacturing jeweller who I assume probably buys material from overseas regularly and may even send some abroad - I don't know. What if he had attempted to sell it? Let's say he had offered it for sale on any advertising media that had any international links whatsoever - from the same link.....

Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act (1986)
Part II: Control of Exports and Imports
Division I: Exports
Section 9: Unlawful Exports

(1) Where a person exports an Australian protected object otherwise than in accordance with a permit or certificate, the object is forfeited.
(2) Where a person attempts to export an Australian protected object otherwise than in accordance with a permit or certificate, the object is liable to forfeiture.
(3) A person is guilty of an offence if:
(a) the person exports, or attempts to export, an object; and
(b) the object is an Australian protected object; and
(c) the persons conduct referred to in paragraph (a) is otherwise than in accordance with a permit or certificate.
(5) Without limiting the meaning of references in this section to a person attempting to export an object, a person shall be taken to attempt to export an object if the person conveys, or has possession of, the object with intent to export it or knowing that it is intended to be exported.

Link here

Now I'm not a lawyer but this suggests to me that if he had offered it for sale on any catalogue not strictly 100% confined to Australia, he would have been breaking the law and under said law, the meteorite would have been confiscated by federal officials - a 50kg meteorite for sale in a major catalogue would be pretty hard to miss.

I have no idea whether the bloke was trying to flog it off overseas or not - it's just that there has been a suggestion here that confiscation of meteorites in Australia simply cannot or does not happen, ever. Ergo, I must be making **** up or the person in question has been telling me porkies. It hasn't taken a great deal of looking for me to reach the conclusion that they certainly can be confiscated depending upon where they are found and what you might be trying to do with them.

 

[Mr Boring]

Cheers Lefty. So maybe we can sell our own meteorites within Australia, I was told to take my bits to the "kalgoorlie school of mines" apparently they certify them for the general public.

 

[Lefty]

Cheers Lefty. So maybe we can sell our own meteorites within Australia, I was told to take my bits to the "kalgoorlie school of mines" apparently they certify them for the general public.

Not a bad idea Mr Boring, it would help answer some questions - I would probably only take one or two small bits that you wouldn't miss, just in case. Next time I see the bloke, I'll ask him if he has any photos of the thing - if he actually did attempt to sell it I assume he probably has.

This seems like such a ridiculous set of laws - a person apparently can't keep or sell a rock they found in the bush without transgressing some legislation or other? And exactly how is a bit of stone or metal from space "cultural heritage"? Pah! Bureau-crazy in action!

 

[lucas22]

Do you suppose They as in The Govt Monitor Ebay & employ Men In Black to check out Extra Terrestrial Sales by Ozi Ebay'ers ?.
I Detected a couple of Meteorites in Japan & saw a Mutha of one come through at 9.pm one Dark night the noise was amazing and the Bright light sonic boom ~!" we all said the F word in unison ~!~