[meteorite-list] AD: West, Texas - Back From The Field!

From: michael cottingham <mikewren_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:24:14 -0700
Message-ID: <892A4338-7B95-48CB-A591-738EE9AF127B_at_gilanet.com>

Hello,

What an adventure!

My son Christopher and I just made it back from West, Texas and we had
a very lucky & bountiful trip. He found his very first meteorite there
and his biggest West beauty was 44 grams!

A lot to be said about this wonderful event, but after 14 hours of
driving I can not do the trip in words well enough. After 20-30 people
searching for nearly 10 days or so the total known weight is still
probably less than 3kg. That is with my information and observations.
At the moment about 50% to 70% of that went into collections and will
not be for sale anytime soon from what I can tell. The strewn field is
rapidly disappearing under the blades of tractors and areas that could
be hunted yesterday are gone today. Prices in the field are going up
and permission to hunt is being revoked in some cases. However,
stones are probably being found as I write this!

I have seen some people hunt for days-walking 20 to 30 miles in that
time and still not find anything. Others get lucky and get one or two
a day, but the "man" hours and acreage that has to be put in is off
the scale and immense. Think about this - some people are in the
exact right place, but still have to walk at least a 10 mile day-10
hours or so, just to find a 5 gram piece. No complaints here, but most
folks will be keeping their stones and as it is now, only about ~30%
of all the known pieces might and I say might become available.

I got lucky and I am going to sell one to three of my haul. My son
will probably sell one of his and that is it. I will probably break
one of my fragments into pieces for all the micro-mount collectors and
maybe slice another fragment. I have not decided what to charge yet,
but it will be without a doubt a realistic price based on expenses and
effort. More later...

TODAY:


I am offering a BEAUTIFUL 6 gram COMPLETE, 100% Fusion Crusted
Individual. It has shape and character and it is beyond words. I will
try and get a photo later, but if you are interested in getting a fine
stone from this fall-make an offer.

Thanks and Best Wishes

Michael
Received on Sat 28 Feb 2009 10:24:14 AM PST