Tafassasset undisclosed location until 2005 February 14 Tenere desert, Niger Found 2000 February 14 Carbonaceous chondrite (equilibrated CR-like meteorite) or primitive achondrite. Twenty-six pieces with a total weight of ~110 kg were found by Bernard Dejonghe on an ancient alluvial plain. The two largest weigh ~30 kg each. Twenty stones were found on a trip in early 2000, and six more in 2001 March. The geographic coordinates of these meteorites are being withheld by the finder for three years. Classification (M. Bourot-Denise, MNHNP): Fa29.3, pyroxene Fs24.3; ~30 vol% millimeter-sized relic chondrules are clearly visible in backscattered electron images. Textures and relative abundances of the phases vary considerably. The dominant lithology has a coarse grain size. It consists of olivine (poikilitically enclosed within pyroxenes in the relic chondrules), a small amount of plagioclase, 10% metal in rounded or oval-shaped grains often edged by chromite, and minor sulphides in small grains. The interchondrule matrix consists of subhedral crystals of olivine embedded in plagioclase and within anhedral crystals of chromite and phosphate that are up to 1 mm in size.
