THE BEALIBA METEORITE FROM VICTORIA 
William D. Birch 
Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Museum of Victoria, 
285 Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 
Birch, W. D., 1991:06:30. The Bealiba Meteorite from Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal 
Society of Victoria 103 (1): 7-11. ISSN 0035-9211. 
The Bealiba Meteorite is an L6 chondrite discovered in the collections of the Geological 
Survey of Victoria. The single 652 gram specimen was donated to the Geological Survey in 
1950 by J. E. Renshawbut was not recognised as a meteorite. The collecting site was given as 
“one mile north of Bealiba”, Victoria. The meteorite consists of poorly defined chondrules 
and irregular metallic grains in a recrystallised matrix. The main minerals present are 
orthopyroxene, olivine, oligoclase. troilite, kamacite, taenite, diopside and chromite. Micro¬ 
probe analyses of these minerals are typical of L6 chondrites. Goethite alteration occurs 
around the Fe-Ni grains and in veinlets in the groundmass. The Bealiba Meteorite is the 
second L6 chondrite discovered in Victoria. 
THE BEALIBA meteorite is a previously un¬ 
recorded L6 chondrite, with a fall site near the 
small central Victorian town of Bealiba (36°48' 
S, 143°33' E), about 30 km northwest of Mary¬ 
borough (Fig. 1). The specimen was discovered 
during early 1989 in the collections of the Geo¬ 
logical Survey of Victoria (GSV), following their 
transfer to the Museum of Victoria in 1987. The 
author recognised the meteorite while sorting a 
tray of miscellaneous rocks. It was registered in 
the GSV collection as no. 11635 and labelled as 
“ironstone with sandstone”, from 1 mile north 
of Bealiba, Victoria. It had been donated to the 
GSV by Mr J. Renshaw in October 1950. The 
Bealiba meteorite is now registered as no. 
E12275 in the collection of the Department of 
Fig 1. Locality map showing the likely discovery and 
fall site of the Bealiba Meteorite, the former Renshaw 
paddock (stippled block), 1.6 km northwest of Bealiba, 
Victoria. 
Mineralogy and Petrology, Museum of Victoria. 
The name, together with data for classification, 
were approved by the Nomenclature Committee 
of the Meteoritical Society early in 1990. 
HISTORY OF DISCOVERY 
In order to verify the original fall site, attempts 
were made to contact surviving members of the 
Renshaw family. Two sisters, Alva and Mary 
Renshaw, of Newstead, Victoria, confirmed that 
their late brother, Joseph E. Renshaw (1907— 
1977), was an avid collector of geological speci¬ 
mens and spent considerable time fossicking in 
bushland around Bealiba. He also paid regular 
visits to the GSV Museum in Melbourne. The 
father of the family, Joseph A. Renshaw, ran a 
drapery in Bealiba and owned a 10-acre “pad- 
dock” north of the town. This block is presumed 
to be the original fall and discovery site (Fig. 
1 ). 
A visit to the block (Fig. 2), about 1.6 km 
northwest of Bealiba, showed it to be situated on 
the southern slopes of a small hill. The country is 
now lightly wooded but was probably largely 
clear of trees in 1950. The block has recently 
been sold as part of a rural residential develop¬ 
ment. 
GEOLOGY OF THE SITE 
Weathered yellowish Lower Ordovician marine 
siltstones and shales, with a north-south strike, 
outcrop on the block. Some fragments of white 
reef quartz are also present. In such an area, a 
meteorite would look out of place to a keen geo¬ 
logical observer. 
7 
