Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
OR email- brmeteorites@yahoo.com
……………………………………………………LIST 197
November 1, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is a small offering-
Dar al Gani (476), Libya: Martian (Shergottite). Found 1998. Tkw = 2015 grams.
Here is a nice complete super thin slice I picked up in some sort of trade deal many years ago. This thing is so thin in fact that you can indeed see some light coming through a few small crystals. This specimen, for obvious reasons, is stored in a membrane box (which will be sent with it). Even so, I had to use a small piece of tape to keep it from sliding around inside the box as it is so thin that even one of these super storage/ display boxes couldn’t completely hold it in place. This is great opportunity for someone who wants a great Mars rock slice that has a maximum surface area for minimum weight.
4.72 gram complete slice – 77mm x 30mm x .5mm - $2300
NWA (998): Martian (Nakhlite). Found 2001. Tkw = 456 grams.
I got this one because I had a customer that wanted a “substantial” piece of Nakhlite – far bigger than what I had available on hand. They also wanted something that was quite fresh (I know there is some “new” Nakhlite floating around out there right now – but the pieces I have seen of this material seem to be quite weathered and have lots of dirt/ caliche attached to them). They also liked the fact that carbonate minerals that formed on Mars (from water flowing through this rock ON MARS) have been found (these may yet be found in the “new” stuff, but I suspect that terrestrial weathering/ contamination may make it hard to positively ID). The best part though was that the piece I received was very solid and has lots of fusion crust. Basically, I ended up breaking the original large specimen in half and my customer took the larger half. So, now I have this nice 3 gram piece available. As already mentioned, it is a solid specimen (some of this stuff is quite crumbly) that is mostly a fragment but does have a roughly 10mm x 7mm cut face on one end. The fusion crust is a bit weathered but is easy to recognize and covers a roughly 17mm x 10mm or so area of one side. I will likely break this up into smaller specimens at some point but I’d like to see if there is anyone out there that wants a large crusted piece of this interesting material (priced pretty much the same as pieces of the “new” material I have seen) before I take that step.
2.98 gram crusted fragment – 17mm x 14mm x 7mm - $3300
TAZA/ NWA (859): Iron. Plessitic octahedrite (ungrouped). Found 2001. Tkw = 75+ kilograms.
Here are a few small complete individuals that I actually picked up as part of the Lang collection of stuff but had set aside (months ago) for possibly putting on a mailed list and then promptly forgot. I have decided to offer them here and now as I don’t really have anywhere near enough specimens to list them on one of those offerings. Anyway these are all natural as found. They have rounded/ atmospherically sculpted shapes. They do have the usual brown oxidized surfaces (as well as some minor amounts of adhering caliche) but they all still show good amounts of blue-gray fusion crust as well. Nothing exceptional (nope, no super oriented pieces) but nice none the less.
1) Individuals as found:
a) 7.9 grams – 20mm x 15mm x 5mm - $39
b) 12.8 grams – 20mm x 17mm x 10mm - $62
c) 27.3 grams – 20mm x 20mm x 12mm - $130
PHILIPPINITE: Tektite from the Rizal province, Phillipines.
This is a fantastic example of a real (and really nice) Rizalite. It is a large round specimen that is covered with deep grooves. A true classic example and one of the best I have ever had.
213.4 grams – 60mm x 50mm x 50mm - $450
