South Australian meteorite hunter has found hundreds!

[grubstake]

Meteorite hunter Robert Towers honoured for museum donations says discoveries still send him 'over the moon':
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09...recognised-for-100-museum-donations/104347762

 

[OzzieAu]

That’s a great read grubstake.... thanks for posting.
They do look as if they stand out from earthly rocks in that environment. I will have keep my eyes peeled when I’m in similar territory. It would be a blast to eyeball one just sun baking in front of you.

 

[grubstake]

That’s a great read grubstake.... thanks for posting.
They do look as if they stand out from earthly rocks in that environment. I will have keep my eyes peeled when I’m in similar territory. It would be a blast to eyeball one just sun baking in front of you.

I want to know his secret! With several hundred finds under his belt, surely there's gotta be more to it than just going out on the Nullarbor and wandering around until you spot something?

 

[OzzieAu]

He might have ESP.... extra terrestrial sensory perception.

 

[Hawkear]

I want to know his secret! With several hundred finds under his belt, surely there's gotta be more to it than just going out on the Nullarbor and wandering around until you spot something?

Was one of my intentions on our last trip across the treeless. Had researched some nullabor meteorite strewn fields (areas where many pieces of a larger meteorite that explodes in the atmosphere fall to earth). Unfortunately had some caravan issues that caused us to make a beeline for Kalgoorlie to get fixed and had to pass up the opportunity on that occasion.
The nullabor is a good area for meteorite hunting because the country rock is limestone and dark rocks stand out against the uniformly lighter coloured soil cover and they can just be spotted on the surface by eye. One doesn’t need to use a a metal detector or a magnet and indeed the latter is frowned upon these days for scientific reasons.
Hunting for true meteorites in a goldfields “salt and pepper” area that contains many black, dark and even naturally magnetic rocks would be a real challenge. One wonders though as to how many meteorites may have been picked up by prospectors over the years only to be discarded as “hot rocks”.
aThe secret would be to look for areas where the surface is less mineralised and of a uniform lighter colour. Also areas subject to some surface ablation or light erosion over time can bring buried meteorites to the surface.
Apart from areas like the nullabor, sandy deserts and ice fields as in Antarctica fit the criteria and are productive areas for spotting meteorites.