Im a Rookie and Yeah I gotta question!!!!

[millionaireh2o]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I just bought my first metal detector a couple of days ago.. I have dug up my yard and some areas around my house. Anyway I was doing some digging at Lake Michigan and I got a huge Ping from this rock. I would like to know if anyone knows what type of rocks would ping? It is a dark almost black color on the outside, but when I broke a peice off it has a silvery color to it. It is lighter then most rocks. I had someone look at it and they seem to think it might be meteorite. Would the metal detector pick up meteorite? Also does anyone know a way to find out for sure. Thanks everyone for there advice. I will post up my finds over the last couple of days soon.

 

[Bobbie]

Meteorites are generally very heavy and do not break off very easily. There are many web sites with photos and info. on all kinds of meteorites

 

[Gulf Hunter]

I have no idea about the rock, but meteorites would definitely be metallic and heavy, I would think. I have heard of hot rocks, but have really never experienced or seen one personnally. Perhaps that is what you have there. Good luck and keep us posted, ya scallywag!

 

[Sanddigger]

n/t

 

[bdahunter]

Figuring out what you find is often as much or more fun than finding something in the first place. What you have found sounds very familiar to me. Several times I have dug up large targets that look like what you found, a lightweight, dark, fist sized, black blob with shiny metallic particles that you can break up with your hand. I'm pretty certain that what you have found is the remains of a charcoal barbecue, probably off of someone's boat. Boaters will sometimes dump the foil and charcoal overboard in a wadded up lump of aluminium foil, charcoal and grease. This gets compressed over time by wave action and sand. Eventually you wind up with a rock that is lightweight (aluminium) and dark (charcoal).
Keep hunting and have fun,

BDA

 

[dsw08]

If you file off a corner it would likely show metal flecks if it's a chondrite meteorite.

Do a streak test.

Streak

Streak is what the rock leaves behind, like a crayon. Common ceramic tile, such as a bathroom or kitchen tile, has a smooth glazed slide and an unfinished dull side which is stuck to the wall when installed. Take the sample that you think is a meteorite and scratch it vigorously on the unglazed side of the tile. If it leaves a black gray streak the sample is almost certainly magnetite, and if it leaves a red-brown streak it is almost certainly hematite. A meteorite, unless it is very heavily weathered, will not leave a streak on the tile. If you don't have a ceramic tile, you can also use the inside of your toilet tank cover (the heavy rectangular lid on top of the tank) - it is heavy, so be careful.

http://epswww.unm.edu/iom/ident/index.html

 

[PaPa-Joe-Fla.]

n/t