[meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.

From: Michael Farmer <meteoritehunter_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Dec 3 13:14:24 2004
Message-ID: <012601c4d963$ea31d2e0$0200a8c0_at_S0031628003>

Yes, the end is near for Moroccan meteorites. It is no longer worth the
money to go there and buy, perhaps once in a great while you hit a score,
but they want more than most of them are worth.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "McomeMeteorite Meteorite" <meteorites_at_hotmail.com>
To: <meteoritehunter_at_comcast.net>; <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 10:44 AM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.


> $6 - 10/gr. ? Moroccan people they begin to do clever, but in the same
> time they will be ruined with them their same hands
>
> Matteo
>
>
>>From: "Michael Farmer" <meteoritehunter_at_comcast.net>
>>To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
>>Subject: [meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.
>>Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 10:14:51 -0700
>>
>>Hello everyone, I have just arrived back in Tucson after one of the most
>>difficult and dangerous trips I have ever done.
>>
>>I was in Morocco for the last week to investigate the new fall and a new
>>Pallasite. Everything that could have gone wrong on this trip, did, so I
>>left Morocco very quickly and returned home.
>>
>>I will make a very long story short but it should serve as a warning to
>>all.
>>
>>I got some of the new Pallasite last month in Morocco, and planned a trip
>>to go to the site of the meteorite find. It is in Western Sahara, right on
>>the Algeria/Morocco/Mauritania borders. This is the same Pallasite that
>>John Birdsell has some of.
>>I was assured that it was no problem to go to the area, but when I got to
>>Assa, we changed into a very old military vehicle, this is when I should
>>have realized that something was wrong.
>>When we got to Zag, we detoured off road for about 20 kilometers to avoid
>>the town and police/military checkpoints.
>>The meteorite is 30 kilometers south and east of Al Mahbas Western Sahara,
>>and when we got about 20 kilometers from the area, we went off-road. That
>>is when the Moroccans told me that this was a military-only, prohibited
>>zone, and that we were not allowed there! I of course got a little
>>concerned (especially when we saw several mine-fields. We were driving
>>cross-country at night with no lights, only by full moonlight, (not a safe
>>thing in an old war zone where mine-fields are still around).
>>The next morning we arrived at the tent of the nomad who found the
>>pallasite. He led us there, over the berm and military fighting
>>emplacements to the site, Algeria was only about 2 kilometers away.
>>The place is a small area about 10 meters across, many pieces, mostly
>>shale fragments full of olivine crystals, and some small individuals. I
>>searched it for about an hour and found many pieces, and one of the other
>>Moroccans found a piece about 80 grams, just metal, no crystals. We had
>>planned a careful search, but one of the Moroccans spotted a military
>>patrol coming so we packed up quickly and fled. It is very flat there,
>>nowhere to hide. They chased us for about 2 hours but we were too far
>>ahead and they could not catch up, but it was close enough for me. An
>>American with Metal-detectors, GPS,s, video cameras, and Satellite phones,
>>is not welcome in a closed military zone. I had to hide as much as
>>possible, dressed like a Moroccan, under blankets, until we left Western
>>Sahara and got back to Assa.
>>It was not a fun trip, and when we got to Assa, the hotel owner found out
>>we had been in Al Mahbas and called the local military colonel, who
>>promptly arrived to find out why we were in a prohibited area, and
>>demanded a large bribe to allow us to avoid some very serious problems.
>>The bribe was paid needless to say, but they had my information and copy
>>of my passport from the hotel.
>>I immediately demanded to get back to civilization and get the hell out of
>>the country, which I did.
>>I will give everyone the coordinates of the Pallasite, and anyone with the
>>cajones to go there can be my guest. I have been around the world many
>>times, and to worse places than this, but there is nothing that will put
>>the fear of god in you like driving as fast as the vehicle will go for
>>hours with military chasing you through mine-fields!
>>This business can get dangerous as I just found out.
>>
>>On the second note, we also dealt with the new fall there, and it is a
>>total disaster. I did not bother to go to the site, as all of my guys were
>>there and none of them got any of the meteorite, and the people who had it
>>offered it to them for $6 to $10 gram! I think that is absolutely
>>ludicrous and anyone who pays that will seriously regret it as I expect it
>>will be $1.00 gram soon enough, like Amgala and Bensour, the price will
>>spike at the beginning, and collapse when more and more comes out.
>>There is a lot of it, many kilos and it will be available. I had other
>>problems to deal with there and the new fall was the least on my list.
>>There is a lot more to this entire story, but this is the gist of it.
>>For me, the Moroccans have become far to untrustworthy lately and I am
>>likley done with that mess over there.
>>Michael Farmer
>>
>>
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>
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Received on Fri 03 Dec 2004 01:14:18 PM PST