Showing posts with label CARBONADO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CARBONADO. Show all posts

Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 247 07OCT2021

Blaine ReedP.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487 October, 2021

Dear collectors,

Here is something of an “after Denver” list I. The show itself was really quite busy (one of my best, actually), despite lower amounts of foot traffic than the old “usual” (those that showed up showed up were obviously serious to buy). Unfortunately, I didn’t pick up much in the way of really new material – mostly just replacements for things I have sold. Even those things are getting hard to come by at prices I can use (inflation is a real thing in meteorites right now).

As always, you can see some of my older offerings (and associated photos) at- 
https://blaine-reed-meteorites.blogspot.com  Be aware though that some (many in the case of the past couple offerings) that some of those listed items have been sold since the blogspot postings were made. Don’t be afraid to ask though, I often have items remaining (or very similar replacements) from such posts.


TURGUT, Turkey. Iron. Ungrouped. (finest octahedrite). Found April 1999. Tkw = 152 kilograms.
I was excited to get my hands on this. In all my years of business, I have only ever handled a few pieces of any finest octahedrite. Most of this was Tazwell, over 30 years ago that I think I sold for over $30/g back then (I am making available a 15.0 gram part slice of that meteorite that has been in my collection since then for $500). This meteorite was found in a farm field and then sat in a garden for 10 years until a meteorite collector recognized it as a meteorite. I have been told that, once it was identified and pieces were offered for sale, the vast majority of this meteorite went to Taiwan to be made into jewelry. I guess that makes some sense as even a small (1cm) piece of this will show a nice complete etch texture. These are all part slices, relatively thin and are etched on both sides.
1) Part slices, etched on both sides:
a) 4.3 grams 14mm x 13mm x 2.5mm $45.00
b) 9.3 grams 19mm x 18mm x 3mm $95.00
c) 16.2 grams 37mm x 18mm x 3mm $145.00
d) 33.6 grams 36mm x 32mm x 3.5mm $285.00
e) 72.5 grams 60mm x 50mm x 3mm $580.00
f) 126.0 grams 100mm x 50mm x 3mm $890.00


EL HAMMAMI, Mauritania. (H5). Found 1997, likely fell August 10, 1997. Tkw = about 240kg.
Here is some material that I put into deep storage over 20 years ago. I finally got that stored fragment (and another flat one – the source of the end piece below) cut up. This was particularly nice and fresh material for this meteorite (though the end piece has a bit of rust staining in one corner) and, thankfully, remained as such during its long storage. The slices are all really fresh and nice showing lots of fresh metal and some (but few) light gray chondrules in a light gray (nearly white) matrix that has only a little minor browning. Some of these slices also show metal veining but this is a bit hard to see in any but the largest slices. By far, this is the freshest H-chondrite I have and priced quite cheap for it likely being a fall. Unfortunately, only the big end piece has anything in the way of (very fresh) fusion crust (though none of the slices have cut edges).
1) Slices:
a) 5.7 grams 26mm x 18mm x 4mm $12.00
b) 11.0 grams 29mm x 26mm x 5mm $22.00
c) 20.3 grams 38mm x 33mm x 5mm $40.00
d) 42.0 grams 52mm x 50mm x 5mm $80.00
e) 80.7 grams 85mm x 55mm x 5mm $150.00
f) 164.4 grams 105mm x 100mm x 4mm $300.00
2) End piece, cut fragment: Has nice crust on part of the edge, stands up nicely on its own.
a) 1882.0 grams 165mm x 115mm x 50mm $2500.00


NWA (10858). Ordinary chondrite. (L3). Found before November 2005. Tkw = 12.3 kilograms.
Well, this stone has had a bit of traveling between owners and more. It was picked up at the Munich, Germany show in 2005. It was later acquired by the Hollis collection who then later put in an auction where I bought it in May of 2019. Paul Sipiera (of Planetary Studies Foundation) arranged to get the thing studied (where it was determined to be an L3) before it went up for sale. Once I got this cut up, I realized quickly that this is VERY LIKELY a piece of NWA (869) that was not recognized as such before work was done on it (but in all fairness, it really didn’t look that much like an (869) when it was whole). Regardless, as this HAS been studied and REPORTED officially as its own “new” meteorite, I am going to sell it such.
HOWEVER, as I got a really good deal on this thing, I am selling it for LESS than I’d normally need to get on similar NWA (869) slices! (I generally get over $1/g on those these days).
1) Slices:
a) 23.4 grams 55mm x 35mm x 5mm $17.00
b) 41.1 grams 55mm x 45mm x 5mm $28.00
c) 79.8 grams 110mm x 55mm x 5mm $52.00
d) 159.7 grams 130mm x 80mm x 5mm $100.00
e) 304.8 grams 200mm x 140mm x 4mm $180.00 – complete slice.
f) 459.2 grams 215mm x 148mm x 4.5mm $250.00 – complete slice.


NWA (13961): Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found before February 2005. Tkw = 410.0 grams.
Here is a single stone I picked up years ago – in Tucson in 2005. I set it aside, thinking it looked like it was more interesting than normal. Cutting it got me more excited. This has the look of a slightly weathered NWA (725) winonaite. This is somewhat porous, generally crystalline and even has the few and far between dark spot (chondrule?). The research work though showed me that this as just an H5!. This has lots of fine-grained metal, looking almost e-chondrite like in reflected light, those sparse chondrules in a medium brown matrix. Not bad, but nothing as special as I had hoped.
1) Slices:
a) 4.9 grams 32mm x 26mm x 1.5mm $10.00
b) 9.6 grams 35mm x 35mm x 2mm $19.00
c) 16.5 grams 75mm x 24mm x 3mm $30.00 – complete slice.
d) 24.0 grams 77mm x 35mm x 3mm $42.00 – complete slice.
2) 60.3 gram end piece/ main mass – 72mm 23mm x 20mm - sold


NWA (13974): Lunar meteorite. Found 2021. Tkw = 7.94 kilograms.
I picked up a couple small stones of this interesting meteorite at the just past Denver Show. This meteorite is a complex breccia consisting of several different lunar rock types; anorthosites, norite and troctolites. It also has mostly anorthite and zoned olivine mineral grains in a melt matrix. These clasts and inclusions are quite small so cut pieces of this are not super exciting visually but are certainly interesting scientifically (and affordable). I do have a few small end pieces available at $65/g – 1.90g, 2.80g, 5.50g.
1) Slices:
a) .48 grams 12mm x 8mm x 2mm $40.00
b) .93 grams 13mm x 12mm x 2mm $75.00 – complete slice.
c) 1.50 grams 17mm x 15mm x 2mm $120.00 – complete slice.


CARBONADO: DIAMOND, Central African Republic
I offered pieces of these supremely interesting diamonds from the Brazil locality around 7 years ago. I sold out of those but was recently able to pick up some samples of their African brothers. The formation origin of these strange diamonds remains something of a mystery but more recent studies strongly suggest that these diamonds are not only extraterrestrial but from outside of our solar system!!! For a really interesting article concerning these, go to gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2017-carbonado-diamond. These look to have formed in low a pressure hydrogen-rich, oxygen poor environment by vapor deposition processes. It is now looking ever more likely that these formed in a near-by super nova event and fell to earth when Africa and South America were connected. Truly interesting and special material. These are guaranteed authentic (unlike the vast majority of offerings claiming to be this material I have seen on Etsy and E-Bay). I will put most of these in a small plastic display box with a label but the larger specimens may not fit.
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) 1.57 carat (.314 grams) 7mm x 5mm x 4mm sold
b) 3.09 carat (.618 grams) 10mm x 8mm x 3mm sold
c) 6.50 carat (1.30 grams) 11mm x 8mm x 7mm $325.00
d) 10.63 carat (2.126 grams) 13mm x 10mm x 9mm $530.00
e) 14.05 carat (2.81 grams) 14mm x 11mm x 9mm $750.00
f) 31.84 carat (6.37 grams) 20mm x 13mm x 11mm sold

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this tyar and now the very cheapest I can send anything is right at $4. Add $ for the padded envelope or box, jewelry boxes, etc and, in most cases, I am still loosing a little even at $5. Larger orders are now $8 to $15 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $15. I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $18.
I do have a fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must. However, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail when possible.











Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 166 - New also mailed offering

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 166 - New also mailed offering

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………………..LIST 166

January 6, 2015

Happy New Year! Here is the e-mail version of my recent mailed list.

Tucson show info: I will be gone from January 27th through about February 18th (yep, this show has me on the road for far too loooong). For the show dates I am at my usual spot – Room 134 of Ramada Limited (665 N. Freeway for those with GPS). I should have my room open mid-morning of January 31st. At this point, I plan on staying for the bitter end – February 14th (I have found that I generally do quite well the last few days while the “main show” is open). I’ll open most mornings at 10AM and should be open most evenings until around 9:30 to 10PM – later (within reason) if people are visiting/ hanging around.

TOLUCA, Mexico: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1776.
I don’t normally offer mixed bags of an item like this, but I somehow ended up with an assortment of pieces the past few months (after not really having any for a few years). The smaller pieces here are pretty much “natural” (uncut or brushed) fragments that are mostly oxide (though some certainly still have an appreciable amount of metal in them). These are cheap and a good way for someone to add a small sample of this famous (and relatively hard to get in small pieces) meteorite to their collection (most buyers will actually get a piece somewhat larger than the listed ones on these first 2 items). One of the heavier pieces is obviously still all metal as it has a polished face. The slice is etched on both sides. The largest individual has a Monig number painted on it (M8.33) – the only such Toluca I have ever seen.
a) 9.7 gram “oxide” fragment – 22mm x 15mm x 12mm - $5
b) 20.5 gram “oxide” fragment – 25mm x 24mm x 15mm - $10
c) 76.0 gram “oxide” fragment – 45mm x 40mm x 23mm - $50
d) 100.0 gram etched part slice (one cut edge) – 80mm x 60mm x 3mm - $100
e) 105.7 gram metallic fragment/ individual with polished face – 40mm x 30mm x 22mm - $65
f) 479g brushed metallic individual with Monig number – 90mm x 45mm x 35mm - $400

NWA 7899: Ordinary chondrite (L6), W1. Found before September 2011. Tkw = 420.2 grams.
This is one I wish I had a lot more of. The outside of this egg-shaped piece showed some black lines indicating that some shock veining was present. On a cut surface though, this one makes you say “wow!” It is among the very best breccias I have seen. It has light/medium gray and tan clasts (of all sizes) in a medium to dark gray (shocked) background. This is truly a great display specimen for getting the concept of brecciation across. I have ONLY this piece right now. I have the other half of this stone yet (planned to make it a collection piece) and may end up having to try to cut some slices off of it sometime later (it’ll have to be wire sawed. It was not easy to split this egg with the equipment I have and I’d probably only mess the thing up if I tried).
121.6 gram end piece – 80mm x 60mm x 15mm - $600

NWA 8185: Ordinary chondrite. (L5), S2, W3. Found before February 2009. Tkw = 793 grams.
This is yet another one of those offered to me as “primitive” but turned out not to be (thankfully, I think I have finally figured out how to pick out the real primitive achondrites with my XRF, at least with a cut surface). That part did not surprise me. The L-type did though. This has the medium gray color, somewhat porous texture typical for the H5s and H6s these “possible primitives” usually turn out to be. The research work though clearly showed that this is indeed an L. The interior shows many light gray somewhat angular to rounded clasts (but no real distinct chondrules) in a gray with hints of green matrix. Kind of different.
1) Slices:
a) 8.5 grams - 25mm x 22mm x 4mm - $15
b) 16.1 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 5mm - $25
c) 37.4 grams - 70mm x 60mm x 3mm - $55 – complete slice.
2) End piece:
a) 214.5 grams - 70mm x 57mm x 35mm - $300 – Main mass.

NWA 5421: (LL3.7), cluster chondrite. Found 2007. Tkw = 2.2 kilogrmas.
This is one Matt and I shared some years ago but I sold mine out before it got to any type of public offering. This is because of its amazing appearance. Most of this is nothing but a mass of large distorted chondrules tightly packed together with virtually no matrix what so ever. I got an extra chunk from Matt a couple years ago and sent it to be wire sawed, as it was an odd size and shape and wouldn’t fit into my saw. Thankfully, this took a long time to get done (around a year and a half I think). In the meantime, I learned about “cluster chondrites” from an article in Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences that described these things and had pictures of NWA (5205) as an example that exactly matched my meteorite. “Cluster chondrites” are not really a new class but usually found as small inclusions in other type 3 stones (this particular meteorite just happens to be pretty much one gigantic such “clast”). They are extremely low in matrix, composed of over 80% chondrules (the highest of all meteorites). These chondrules are deformed and indicate that they accreted while still hot hours to days after forming (which hints that they may have formed by low velocity impacts between semi-molten bodies). These “rocks” are believed to likely represent pieces of THE primary accretionary rocks (first solidified rocks that were often then later broken up and mixed into later chondrites).
Wish I knew about all of this when I first got it. I don’t have a lot of this left now. These pieces are pretty much all the “cluster chondrite” texture. Only the large full slice has zones of finer texture (40%).
1) Slices:
a) 1.3 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 2.5mm - $25
b) 2.6 grams - 23mm x 12mm x 3mm - $50
c) 5.5 grams - 28mm x 22mm x 3mm - $100
d) 10.5 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 3mm - $190
e) 20.3 grams - 52mm x 48mm x 2.5mm - $350 – ½ slice
f) 92.6 grams - 115mm x 70mm x 4mm - $1350 – complete slice.

NWA 6950(Lunar (gabbro). Found June 2011. Tkw = 1649 grams.
A single stone that was broken in eight pieces was found (reportedly) near the Algeria/ Mali border. This material turned out to be a Lunar meteorite with a cumulate texture. This was formed by crystals solidifying and settling out of a magma of basaltic composition that was cooling and solidifying beneath the Lunar surface. These pieces are all part slices (broken from larger slices). They are mostly a mottled mix of light tan and pale green fragments/ crystals but some piece have the occasional thin black shock vein. All are in a labeled plastic box for safety (this is mildly crumbly material) and display.
1) Slices:
a) .15 grams - 8mm x 4mm x 1.5mm - $75
b) .28 grams - 12mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $140
c) .50 grams - 15mm x 8mm x 1.5mm - $250
d) 1.04 grams - 16mm x 13mm x 1.5mm - $495
e) 2.01 grams - 27mm x 15mm x 1.5mm - $900
f) 5.33 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 1.5mm - $2100

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1937.
Here are a few cut fragments I re-discovered while doing inventory last month. Looking through my records, it seems that I have not offered any of this meteorite on a mailed list for over a decade (however, I have offered the occasional piece on e-mailed offerings over the years). Anyway, these are the usual oxidized pieces that show dark olivine in a blue gray (magnetite and hematite) matrix. I once had quite a lot of this meteorite (8 kg or so), but this is the last of it and this material has gotten fairly scarce these days. I don’t really foresee being able to obtain any sizable quantity of this meteorite in the future (I don’t know of anybody that has some). So, grab one of these if you have been wanting to add this name to your collection. I have only one each of the two larger sizes listed here.
1) Cut fragments:
a) 15.7 grams - 28mm x 26mm x 10mm - $39
b) 22.5 grams - 35mm x 20mm x 18mm - $55
c) 38.9 grams - 45mm x 22mm x 20mm - $90
d) 90.4 grams - 60mm x 30mm x 25mm - $200

CARBONADO, Brazil: Black diamonds that may be from space.
Here are some of the weird diamonds I have spent years trying to acquire since reading about them. The last batch of “Brazilian carbonados” I was sold were clearly not. These very clearly are. These weird, often large diamonds are not really crystals but more of an aggregate of microscopic crystals packed together (interestingly, this structure makes them actually harder than regular diamonds). As such, these seem to have formed by a vapor deposition method somehow. Their chemistry is also unlike any other diamonds. They don’t contain any deep mantle minerals (as other diamonds do). Among many other special features, they have nitrogen and hydrogen in their structure as well as strange minerals including reduced Fe, Si, Ti, FeNi metal and the mineral osbournite (TiN) which has previously only been found in meteorites. It has been concluded by some that these likely formed during the formation of a white dwarf star (which we are learning can basically BE a diamond), with some being blown into our area of space during the super nova that formed them around 3.8 billion years ago.
1) Individual “crystals” as found:
a) 4.1 carat (.82 grams) - 9mm x 8mm x 6mm - $300
b) 17.1 carat (3.42 grams) - 14mm x 12mm x 10mm - sold

Please note:
The post office keeps increasing shipping rates (despite the government’s official claim is that there is no inflation). For small US orders $3 should still be fine for now. Larger orders are now $12 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). The real increases came in overseas (or even Canada) shipping. These prices pretty much doubled from what they were a couple years ago. Now small overseas orders are around $9 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is still around $12.
I do have a new fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must However, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail.