[meteorite-list] Algerian Meteorites

From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2020 09:39:09 -0500
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW9d_pJG5Gq2ky2MGd5b1Nv=a=gHqnZjg_xBcZf0RXEafg_at_mail.gmail.com>

At the risk of sounding like Jerry Seinfeld - What's the deal with
Algerian meteorites these days?

For years, we heard again and again that Algerian meteorites were not
legal. Wholesalers went out of their way to fudge the provenance on
these meteorites - "laundering" them to make it appear that they came
out of Morocco instead of Algeria.

Ten years ago on May 01. 2010, the "Breja" meteorite fell over
Algeria. It quickly hit the collector market and there was some
chatter about it, but then it was forgotten a little over a year later
when the Tissint fall grabbed all of the attention. The potential
classification of Breja was pushed to the back burner and we rarely
heard about it any more after that.

A few years later, I inquired about it to a couple of well-placed
dealers, and I was told that the classifier-scientists wouldn't touch
Breja because it came from Algeria. One institution in England
straight up refused to look at it or classify it because of it's
origin.

So, here we are 10 years later and Algerian meteorites are popping up
all over the Bulletin. Not an update goes by that we don't see one or
more Algerian meteorites being classified. What changed? Did the law
in Algeria change? Did institutional policies change? And if so, when
is this obscure meteorite going to be finally classified?

Best regards,

MikeG

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Received on Sun 15 Nov 2020 09:39:09 AM PST