Meteorite???

[Purplehays69]

I found this years ago while sniping a creek. Went to throw it out of the crack but it was very heavy for its size. Sticks very hard to my pick magnet.

[Rob Allison]

Hey Purple,

  Typical Ironstone in the Southwest.  I have kicked, tossed and dug hundreds of them.  We also call them "Hotrocks" meaning anything that is hot to the detector beyond the normal soil you are detecting.  I'm not too technical, but I tell people a hotrock is anything that will sound off on the detector, mostly volcanics/irons, but also to investigate all rocks until you know its the "typical" hotrock for that area.  Some placer areas are laced with a variety of volcanics and ironstones. 

There are some quick tests, such as streak tests, the old magnet test and worst case, I always tell someone if they don't see any visible metals, break in half and test the response to the detector.  If both pieces sound about the same, they I just toss them.  

If you broke it in half, one side screamed, the other didn't respond, then you might have something or probably would see it by that time.  

Hope this helps.  

Rob

[Purplehays69]

I've been curious about it. In at least two places it has WEBBING that is supposed to be characteristic of meteorites?

[Rob Allison]

Hey Purple,

   If you have any doubts, always have it checked out.  That being said, I have found hundreds, probably in the low thousands of common chondrite meteorites, mostly Gold Basin region (7-9 known types), Franconia (irons and stones) and a few other spots on dry Lakes in the Southwest.  The most common ID for meteorites is the fusion crust, which on 99% of the ones I found it's obvious.  Then things like flow lines, thumbprints, condrules-metal flakes can be visually seen.  

I'm sure you have read all the stuff on meteorites and IDing them, so I won't go over that.  There is tons of info on the forums, books and Google search.  

I'm 99.9% it's a common Southwestern Ironstone, but check it out to be 100% sure.  Nickel is very rare on Earth, but is present in all meteorites, so this is a test that most Universities can do.  I believe it's at least 5% Nickel-Iron to be classified as a meteorite, but I could be wrong. 

Rob