A rare meteorite from Mars, which was discovered two years ago in the West African Niger country, was sold at auction in New York last month for $ 5.3 million. The auction took place at the Sotheby's auction house, and both the buyer and the seller remained anonymous.
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The matter is so serious because the piece of Red Planet, known as NWA 16788, is the largest meteor that has ever been found on Earth. It was only after the transaction that doubts about the legality of stone exports began.
Little is known about how he came to the world -famous auction house in the USA. According to the BBC, the Niger government in a statement “expressed doubts about the legality of exports, raising concerns about possible illegal international trade.”
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In his statement on sales, Sotheby's Niger admitted that “there are no detailed meteorite regulations yet.” However, he remains vague how someone was able to derive such a heavy, conspicuous artifact from the country without noticing by the authorities.
Sotheby's strongly denies illegal trade, claiming that the right procedures were applied, but Niger has now initiated an investigation into the circumstances of the discovery and sale of the meteorite.
A rock from Mars sold in New York. Niger demands explanations
The Italian scientific article, which cites the BBC, and which was published last year, stated that the meteorite was found on November 16, 2023 in the Sahara in the Agadez region in Niger, 90 km west of the Chirf Oasis, through the “meteorite hunter, whose identity remained undisclosed”.
According to the Italian article, the Martian rock was “sold by the local community to the international dealer”, and then moved to a private gallery in the Italian city of Arezzo. In Italy, a team of scientists under the leadership of Giovanni Pratesi, a mineralogy professor at the Florentine University, was able to explore him to learn more about his structure and where it comes from.
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As BBC adds, the meteorite was then briefly exhibited last year in Italy, including the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Once again, he was publicly seen in New York last month, without two slices that remained in Italy for further research.
The spokesman explained that Sotheby's was aware of the reports that Niger is investigating the export of the meteoriteand the auction house “analyzes the available information in the light of the raised issue”.
