Gove, Relict Iron

This mostly oxidized iron meteorite was found in a Cenozoic bauxite deposit during mining at the Nabalco Bauxite Mine in 1966.  It was distributed by a mineral dealer at the time, and I was lucky to stumble across this specimen in an older mineral collection being sold at a local mineral show.

From the Meteoritical Bulletin:

About a year and a half after I found this specimen, Alex Bevan et al., published a paper on the find: The Gove relict iron meteorite from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.  The iron has a very roughly estimated terrestrial age of 2.5 – 23 Ma, making it one of the oldest meteorite finds known.  The paper’s an interesting one worth reading.

Of note for this specimen:

…Which would make this 120 gram end-cut the only known specimen of the 1966 find.  I managed to track down and contact the finder, Jim McJannett.  He remembered finding the meteorite, but hadn’t kept any specimens and didn’t know what had become of it.

This specimen is mostly oxide with just a few fresh metal grains visible in the cut surface.  Characteristic concentrically-layered bauxite nodules are cemented to one side of the stone.

A closer look at this specimen with UCLA EPSS’ SEM revealed a few areas of the Thomson structure were structurally preserved as oxides, and the relict metal grains in the cut face are indeed nickel-rich metal.  A few small graphite inclusions were observed.

Quick metal analysis:
Thomson structures:

Bauxite nodules: