DDancer

You have the right materiel there.  Chalcedony that forms in a flower shape is often called a Chalcedony Rose.  Some area's they can be quite common.  Here's a link to a search on TreasureNet take a look at Steve1236 and his posts.  He's actively digging similar material in AZ.  http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/search.php?searchid=25580535

Kinda hard to tell what your looking at in many of the pictures.  Close pictures with good focus on the area's of interest in natural lighting will help.  For the ones that stand out good pics 5, 6 and 7 are iron minerals either hematite and or limonite.  A streak test would help but 5 and 6 have good form and luster.  The last 3 pictures are pyrites.  Overall a very heavily mineralized area is on display.

Not a fossil in my opinion.  It appears to be either a geode or a nodule of quartz that surrounded a softer material thats since eroded out of it similar to a concretion.  In the second picture there appears to be banding like that of agate's and some crystal formation towards the center.  A slab cut off the open face and a light polish would make the internal structure stand out and help identification.

Nice find 🙂  How'd you know its an old hobo camp?  *curious* 

Good on ya 🙂  I remember my first silver, a 1940 Merc.  I'd say the hook is set for ya.  There'll be more for ya there I suspect.  Luck.

Have to forward this to engineering and see what they can do to screw it up.  🤣

Certainly looks like gold 1515Art, pyrites generally don't sound off on detectors and it looks to have flattened areas from wear that pyrites wont display.  Definitely worth the work if there's that much rubbish like Fred said its not been pounded.  Luck.  DD

What you have are sedimentary concretions. They can come in some pretty neat formations.  Here's a link with some photo's and info on concretions : https://www.thoughtco.com/gallery-of-concretions-4122853

Or swiped it from mom and dads jewelry box 😉 pocketed it and took it to school to show off.  Lots of strange things can show up in school yards.  Never know the truth but its fun to speculate.  Its one of the things I enjoy in metal detecting~ the thought of "How did this get here?" and "Man that person must have been upset when they lost this..."

Over the years I've turned up a couple of pound coins, usually near soccer fields.  More common, I guess, are euro's also near soccer fields.  My guess on them would be exchange students or foreign soccer clubs playing here in the US.  Got a good haul there.

He's probably Doing the reading 😉 Next'll be the the questions I bet GaryC

Couple of things you can try:

Hand polish the flat end with emery paper then soak as Bob pointed out to see if you can find banding.  Usually just a hand polish and wetting will work but soaking might work better because its so dark. 

Second is find a friend with a mason saw and have a slab cut for a fresh look inside, if the cuts to rough a hand polish and wetting should reveal any banding.

Don't spend a lot of money, though good equipment can be pricey but worth it, the basics will go far.  Don't expect to get rich, the experience is rich enough, but one can dream.  Don't chase gold when you finally find gold, the grass is seldom greener on the other side of the fence, stories of where gold was found are just that~ where it was~ but you can hope something was left behind when you get done with your patch.  Lots of don'ts but lots of do's as well.

Do read up on prospecting, knowledge here and from other sources is invaluable, and familiarize yourself with what your endeavoring to do.  Do be prepared for the environment you'll be in, bad things happen even to the most careful of us.  Do try to go with others, friends/clubs or new chums, this just makes the adventure that much better;  but if you do strike out on your own Do tell other's where you'll be and when to expect your next contact with them.  And contrary to Don't chase gold, you dont have a patch yet, Do go where others have gone before to increase the likely hood of finding your own patch.

Most of all Do have a good time with all of it.  The easy bits, the hard bits and the time's in between make prospecting a great hobby.

If you have any photo's of your stuff it might help a touch.   Lord knows enough prospectors with sharp eye's can spot a gold flake in a bowl of pyrite who knows what all us in the various forums can spot.  Luck to ya mate and sorry for your loss.

Good one Steve.  If I were that old man I'd be looking for an Exo-suit for both extra life and extra power.  The guy with the bear problem definitly needs extra Fire Power!   LOL

Prospecting down there is a challenge for a Yank thats for sure.  Takes a fair amount of time and resources, as well as good Mates, to do well on the gold.  You got to scratch the itch that not many of us here in the US get to reach so Good On Ya ?   I've seen the kilometers and kilometers of bush as well, and may yet again, however just know that all your little black buddies, the fly union, will always be waiting and willing to make new friends.  Kanga tail soup is pretty good tucker too ?  Enjoy the big smoke before ya get on your flight back.  Cheers

One thing that might help identify it as Barite or another mineral : Does it feel light or heavy for its size?  Barite has a heavy feel, gypsum and selenium feel lighter.  Nice find.

22 hours ago, Mark Gillespie said:

A currency only has value because we, as a society, decide that it does.

This single line in the whole article pretty much says it all.  Many societies never appreciated gold as a currency.  That line with the supporting arguments on its scarcity, stability and workablity are what makes gold valuable.  Nowadays's gold also has an intrinsic value for society in its use's where'as back in time it had little or no value for day to day activities.  Only is social status to support its value at the farm or in the court.

Nice collection going there.  I think you should consider setting up a large screen off the back of the dredge and have a member of your crew work it while you dredge if you want to have an easier go recovering fossils.  You getting anything else in the riffles?  If you dont want the fossils going thru the pump use a siphon set up, I think thats what its called,  high pressure stream into a head that creates a jet for pick up.  Someone will help me out here as I'm not a dredge guy.

Back when I was in the Navy, a few decades ago, I looked seriously into trying to get posted down there for the experience~ with the thought in the back of my head to do just what that group did.  But on the QT as anything you pick up pretty much belongs to the scientists.  Very cool they pulled off such a haul.  Meteorite recovery in Antarctica is an ongoing thing but thats the first dedicated hunt I've ever read on.

Not a meteorite.  Looks to be a heavily inclusion chalcedony.  The pockets with the small quartz crystals and layering are akin to tiny geodes/agates.  How it got to your farm I cant say but its likely it fell outta someones pocket ?  Neat bit.

I gotta wonder how that filter is going to hold upto clay silts but its definitely a neat idea for snipping.

Never go by the package myself ?  Takes some practice to get that kind of result.  But Good On Ya ?  If your feeling sparky try re-dissolving them and try, try try again.  Got a good result there and if you try again save one crystal for the seed.

Thats a pretty cool site jasong.   Never thought to look for a chemistry site..... thanks.

I had the pleasure of prospecting with Kevin and his wife Bep in WA back in 2006, even had them sign her book about the story that I'd picked up in Victoria years before.  There's a lot in that story from he and his wife thats not in the book ? but by an large it was fun to hear and read.  There was a fair controversy after Kevin sold the nugget to the US and OZ changed the rules a bit on selling big nuggets after that.  While Kevin is now resting his wife Bep is still getting around and doing well.  Met her again two years ago in WA and my mate  and his wife there still keep in contact with her.

Just imagine running around with a nugget like that in the back of your vehicle in a baby wash tub covered with a towel.  Or digging it, and digging it and it just kept going down.