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PALLASITE METEORITES FOR SALE
Pallasites are quite rare: less than a hundred falls are known and only four of those were observed. This represents less than 0.1% of classified meteorites!
Popular Pallasite Meteorites
Sericho Pallasites - Sericho meteorites are found in a 45-kilometer long strewn field in Isiolo County, Kenya. This meteorite was officially named in 2016, though local villagers had been aware of it for some time. Several thousand kilograms of Sericho pallasite have been recovered since its discovery. Sericho has well rounded, gemmy olivine crystals varying in color from green to orange. Often the metal-rich areas of the show well-developed Widmanstätten patterns with etching. It is quite attractive, particularly when sliced thin enough for the olivine crystals to be translucent, and is very popular among collectors.
Admire Pallasites - First discovered in 1881 by a farmer near Admire, Kansas, about two tons of this fascinating pallasite have been recovered. Admire contains a mixture of olivine crystals and nickel-iron metal in approximately equal amounts. Pallasites are already rare among meteorites, but the Admire pallasite is extra special since it contains a small percentage of “unshocked” olivine crystals that can be faceted into space gems.
Seymchan Pallasites - The Seymchan meteorite was first discovered in 1967 near the Seymchan River in the Magadan Oblast of Russia. Based on initial specimens, it was classified as a coarse octahedrite (IIE) iron meteorite. More recently, meteorite hunters have recovered additional new masses with more advanced metal deetectors. Several of these (an estimated 10 to 20% of the masses) contain olivine, revealing the true pallasitic nature of this meteorite and its reclassification.
Brenham Pallasites - The Brenham pallasite was discovered in 1882 in Kiowa County, Kansas. Masses both large and small have been found in association with a 50-foot impact crater that is estimated to be about 1,000 years old. Parts of the Brenham meteorite are filled with beautiful yellow-green peridot crystals though some areas lack these gorgeous space gems, and are instead only metal. Prior to its “discovery” by settlers, local Indigenous groups used parts of the meteorite as a source of iron for tools for centuries.
Brahin Pallasites - The Brahin pallasite is a particularly beautiful pallasite with a very high peridot content, as high as 80 percent in some specimens! It was first discovered in 1810 near the village of Ljady in eastern Belarus. Additional pieces were discovered in 1968 and in 2002 from a 15-kilometer long strewn field. Around 1,000 kilograms in total have been collected.
Imilac Pallasites - The Imilac pallasite might be the most famous and collectable (and expensive) of the pallasites. It was discovered in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile in 1822. Approximately 1 metric ton of material has been recovered from an 8-kliometer long strewn field. Due to weathering, intact olivine crystals are present only in the larger specimens, while smaller examples contain dark altered olivine crystals. Very small specimens where the olivine crystals have been completely weathered away are known as “metal skeletons”.
Are Pallasites Rare? How Much Are Pallasites Worth?
Pallasite meteorites are quite rare: out of over 50,000 known meteorites, only about 100 to 200 are classified as pallasites. This represents less than 0.2% of classified meteorites and is less than the number of classified lunar meteorites or Martian meteorites! Some of the falls, such as Sericho and Brenham, were fairly large and produced over 1,000 kilograms of material, but the majority are represented by a few kilograms or even less.
Due to their rarity and inherent beauty, pallasites have become very valuable and desirable among collectors. Particularly in the last few years, prices of these meteorites have skyrocketed. Because of limited quantities and increasing demand, those price increases don’t show any signs of abating. For example, just a few years ago, cut and polished Imilac pallasite specimens sold for about $10 per gram, but now it is impossible to buy for under $50 per gram: it has been sold online for as much as $100 per gram!
The prices between different pallasite meteorites can vary significantly based on the amount of material known, how much is left on the market, historical significance, beauty, and other factors. Sericho might be the most affordable because several thousand kilograms were collected and it is a more recent find, so a significant amount is still available on the market. Cut and polished Sericho specimens can sell for under $10/gram. On the other end of the spectrum, pallasites like Fukang and Imilac will sell for MANY times more than that. Slices of these two pallasites have sold for prices in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent major auctions.
Nearly everyone (unless you are a meteorite cutter) is interested in cut and polished pallasites rather than whole stones. Slicing shows off their distinctive structures of gemmy peridot crystals embedded in a nickel-iron matrix, while a complete stone is not very distinct from other commoner meteorites. Cut and polished material will sell for at least a few times more than the whole stones: the cutting and polishing process is very labor-intensive, and thus very expensive. With Sericho slices, it costs more to get them professionally cut, polished, and stabilized than the rough stones cost.
How Are Pallasite Meteorites Formed?
Pallasite meteorites are thought to form at the boundary regions between the metal cores and silicate mantles of early planetary bodies or asteroids. The exact process of their formation is not completely understood, several hypotheses have been proposed by scientists:
Planetary Differentiation: One prevailing theory suggests that pallasites originate from the remnants of large, differentiated planetary bodies or asteroids. These bodies experienced a process called planetary differentiation, where intense heat and pressure caused heavy metallic elements like iron and nickel to sink toward the center, forming a dense metal core. Simultaneously, lighter silicate minerals including olivine remained in the outer layers. Pallasites may have formed at the interface between these layers.
Impact Events: Another hypothesis proposes that pallasites may have formed by powerful impact events on differentiated parent bodies. These impacts could have disrupted the boundary between the metal core and the silicate mantle, mixing the two components and creating pallasites.
Melt Veins: Some researchers suggest that pallasites may result from intrusions of molten metal into fractures or voids within the silicate mantle of a planetary body. Over time, the metal can cool and solidify, trapping olivine crystals and forming the distinctive structure seen in pallasite meteorites.
It's important to note that the exact mechanism of pallasite formation may vary among individual pallasite meteorites. Each pallasite's unique composition and characteristics can provide clues about the specific conditions and processes that occurred on its parent body, contributing to our understanding of planetary formation and differentiation in the early solar system.
How To Care For Your Pallasite
Congratulations on purchasing your new pallasite specimen! These beautiful and rare specimens do require some special care to keep them flawless and rust-free.
The specimens we sell have been stabilized to prevent them from rusting and degrading from moisture in the atmosphere. That being said, most pallasites are prone to rusting, so care should be taken to store them in a dry environment. If you live in a region with high humidity such as Florida, it’s critical to keep your meteorite specimens in a case with a corrosion inhibitor such as silica gel beads or a dehumidifier. We also recommend to either handle specimens with gloves or pick them up by their edges so that oils from your hands don’t get on the surfaces.
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