Meteorite Regulations?

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The only thing i know of is its against federal law to try and send one over seas,hopefully someone else here knows more then that lol
 
In WA & SA , any meteorites are owned by the Government, & maybe NT comes under that as well , but I am pretty sure QLD as NSW is finders keepers.
 
Yeah I have heard that you cannot export out of Australia with out a permit. And that each state differs with who owns the find, will try to a bit more research and see if I can get a link to the legislation for future reference.
 
From memory in NSW it is legal to find and collect meteorite's but to be able to sell them you must send them away to be tested/analysed in which a sample (10-30% from memory) would be kept by the UNI/lab and your meteorite would be officialy classified and you would then be able to sell it.
 
These are the well known impact sites

The largest Australian meteorites are: Mundrabilla, Western Australia, iron (octahedrite) 12 t, 5 t Cranbourne, Victoria, iron (octahedrite) 8.5 t (incl. single 3.5 t, 1.5 t) Youndegin, Western Australia, iron (octahedrite) 3.7 t (incl. separate 2.6 t) Wildara, Western Australia, stone (chondrite) 0.5 t of fragments Huckitta, Northern Territory, stony-iron (pallasite) 1.4 t The largest New South Wales meteorites are: Barratta, Deniliquin, stone (chondrite) 203 kg of pieces Molong, Orange, stony-iron (pallasite) 105 kg Narraburra, Temora, iron (octahedrite) 32 kg Other large Australian meteorites are: Murnpeowie, South Australia, iron 1.1 t Henbury, Northern Territory, iron (octahedrite) over 1 t of pieces Haig, Western Australia, iron (octahedrite) 0.526 t Dalgety Downs, Western Australia, stone (chondrite) 0.474 t of pieces Murchison, Victoria, stone (carbonaceous chondrite) over 0.1 t of pieces - See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Meteors-and-Meteorites#sthash.dE1TyX7K.dpuf
 
Have done quite a bit of searching online. Cannot find any regulations for Qld on the selling of meteorites. Only mention is in the fossicking sections where it just states that it does not cover meteorites.
 
A meteorite brochure put out by the Museum of Victoria in 2007 states that:
"In Western Australia and South Australia legislation means that meteorites are the property of the Government and must be lodged with an appropriate Museum. In other States, the finder is able to keep a meteorite."

Exporting a meteorite requires a Permit under Commonwealth law.
 
No fun in QLD people, not allowed to take, find, or look at! lol
 
FYI folks the Meteorite Collection at the Western Australian Museum is recognised internationally as one of the most significant in the southern hemisphere.
http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/collections/cosmochemistry/meteorite-collection
Recently saw the Mundrabilla meteorite at the WA Museum - awesome!

Meteorites found in Western Australia are held under a statutory obligation laid down in Section 45 of the Museum Act (1969 as amended in 1973), whereby meteorites from Western Australia belong to the State, and ownership is vested in the Trustees of the Western Australian Museum.
cheers Jed
 
The Bathurst Observatory has information about meteor prices and valuations. Unfortunately I cannot supply the link as it wont allow me. but you can add www in front of
bathurstobservatory.com.au/metstudies.htm. They can also assist you in selling your meteorite.
 
WHY if a meteoroid falls from space and lands at my feet, is it the property of the Government in some states :mad:
Can someone please enlighten me on this :/
 
Pete_The_Prospector said:
WHY if a meteoroid falls from space and lands at my feet, is it the property of the Government in some states :mad:
Can someone please enlighten me on this :/

WHY if I discover gold in my property does the Federal Government own it, no matter where in Australia I live. Some regulations are just odd...
 
Probably something to do with scientific research on meteorites would be my guess.
According to the WA Museum unless the meteorite is VERY special they almost always allow the finder to keep their find - if it is declared :lol:
 
garnethawkins said:
The only thing i know of is its against federal law to try and send one over seas,hopefully someone else here knows more then that lol

I wonder how they detect it at the airport, or do you mean shipping via post?
 

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