Analysis of meteorite reveals two alien 'never before seen on Earth' minerals

A team of Canadian researchers claim to have discovered two new minerals from their analysis of the world's ninth-largest meteorite discovered in Somalia.

They indicate that a potential third new mineral might also be present in the 15-tonne meteorite that landed in east Africa, near the town of El Ali, in the Hiiraan region.

As per The Guardian, the meteorite dubbed "nightfall" by locals, and El Ali by western scientists was unearthed in 2020.

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However, locals claim that the extraterrestrial rock has been known to them for ages.

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For classification purposes, a 70-gram slice of the iron-based meteorite was sent to the University of Alberta's meteorite collection. There Dr Chris Herd, the curator of the collection noticed "unusual" minerals in the rock.

The newly discovered minerals have been named elaliite, and elkinstantonite. The name 'elaliite' comes from the rock's location of El Ali town, while 'elkinstantonite', pays tribute to Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the principal investigator of Nasa’s upcoming Psyche mission that aims to send a spacecraft to a metal-rich asteroid.

“Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form, how these iron-nickel cores form, and the closest analogue we have are iron meteorites. So it made sense to name a mineral after her and recognise her contributions to science,” Herd was quoted as saying by Guardian.

Herd who is a professor in the department of Earth and atmospheric sciences then asked a colleague Andrew Locock, the head of the university’s electron microprobe laboratory, to examine the sample.

It was Locock who determined that the meteorite contains two new minerals. The third potential mineral's confirmation is pending analysis.

"That was phenomenal," says Herd, adding that while in the 1980s similar minerals were created in the laboratory, this is the first time they've been recorded as appearing in nature.

He remarked that this could help ascertain how "nature's laboratory" works and that the minerals could have real-world uses.

The University of Alberta wanted to further examine the extraterrestrial rock, however, as per Herd, there are reports that it has been removed to China, where it may be put on the market. Meteorites have a niche in international markets where they are often brought and sold for very lucrative amounts.

(With inputs from agencies)

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