[meteorite-list] NPA 03-10-1931: 70 Ton Meteorite Found (?)

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Sep 12 15:53:19 2004
Message-ID: <BAY4-F3EfLMY3tTE9iT000107ba_at_hotmail.com>

Paper: Daily Gleaner
City: Kingston, Surrey, Jamaica
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 1931
Page: 18

70-TON METEORITE OF NICKLE & IRON FOUND

SUPER-HARD METALLIC MASS FOUND IN TANGANYIKA

     Mr. W. H. Nott, a Johannesburg land surveyor, states that he has
discovered one of the largest meteorites ever found in Africa. The
meteorite is a solid mass of nickel-iron nearly 14ft. long and about 4ft. in
diameter. It lies in open country approximately halfway between Lakes
Tanganyika and Nyasa, and is embedded in fairly hard earth for about 3ft.
     Keeping the discovery secret, Mr. Nott went to the nearest village,
Mbeya, one of the new stations for Imperial Airways. Here he secured a
prospecting license and returned to the meteorite. He prepared a set of
pegs and beacons, strictly according to mining laws of Tanganyika, and
stakes off an area of 40 acres as a base-metal claim, with the meteorite in
the exact centre. Trenches and other elementary workings were made, and the
unique "strike" was legally looked upon as an outcrop of iron. The natives
of the district regarded the meteorite as an "evil stone," because they had
repeatedly tried to make assegais knives from it, but had found it
impossible to cut.
     To secure a sample of the meteorite Mr. Nott obtained a particularly
good hacksaw and set his boys to work sawing off a tiny piece. Working
relays, they took four hours to remove a piece hardly two inches across.
Even this required the use of a sledge hammer and cutting from two sides.
     Mr. Nott first estimated the weight of the meteorite as about 70 tons
but other calculations make it 84 tons. Its constitution will be analyzed
by the metallurgical department of the Wiwatersrand University. Nickel,
iron and chromium are likely to be the principal ingredients - The Morning
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Received on Sun 12 Sep 2004 03:33:02 PM PDT