Prospector’s Rock Turns Out to Be a 17‑kg Meteorite From the Solar System’s Dawn

A metal-detecting prospector found a dense reddish rock in Maryborough Regional Park in 2015 that resisted cutting with a saw, acid, drill, and even a sledgehammer. Identified in 2018 by geologists at the Melbourne Museum as a 17‑kilogram ordinary H5 chondrite meteorite dating to about 4.6 billion years ago, it formed at the dawn of the Solar System and likely came from the asteroid belt. Diamond cutting revealed tiny chondrules inside, confirming its extraterrestrial origin and making it rarer than gold.