[meteorite-list] Kem Kem

From: Brian Cox <searchingforfun_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:48:59 -0500
Message-ID: <AF02B72E50044FF99305434FC1D6B0FD_at_user6e6e286533>

Eric and John,

Hi Eric, thanks for the information that you gave on Michael Casper's email
and John you are right, I think it's great that Eric still had that
information after all these years. I keep learning more and more about the
Kem Kem story. I never met Michael Casper, but I've learned more about him
over the past three days than I ever knew and it has sparked interest in my
ebay Kem Kem auction since over 100 people have looked at the auction over
the past few days..

Thanks again,

Brian

IMCA #6387

searchingforfun is my ebay User Id

Message: 12
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:23:02 -0700
From: John Gwilliam <jkg2 at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Kem Kem
To: Eric Twelker
<twelker at alaska.net>,meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Message-ID:
<20090815002314.FFOD11920.fed1rmmtao103.cox.net at fed1rmimpo01.cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Thanks to Eric for saving 10 year old e-correspondence! It's pretty
obvious to me that this is a prime example of how the "mix-up" of the
African desert material got started. Just my opinion though.

John Gwilliam

At 02:35 PM 8/14/2009, Eric Twelker wrote:
>FWIW
>Eric Twelker
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>>Resent-From: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>From: "Michael Casper" <casper at meteorites.com>
>>Date: September 14, 1999 7:37:25 AM GMT-08:00
>>To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>>Subject: * SALE * KEN KEN, DAHARA, MOROCCO * SALE
>>Reply-To: <casper at meteorites.com>
>>
>>LIVE FROM DENVER!
>>
>>We just secured a load (75KG) of a new find!
>>
>>Ken Ken, Dahara, Morocco
>>Found August 1999
>>4 different meteorites found within 10km
>>
>>This is a brand new find and is 4 different types. Looks like
>>H 5 and L 6 or maybe BETTER! This load was foun over several
>>weeks of searching by aproximately 500 folks of "the berber tribe".j
>>
>>Here is the deal! I will sell no less than 2.5 KG _at_ $.40 per gram.
>>That is $1000.00 MINIMUM ORDER. I will ship overnight if payment
>>is MC/VISA.
>>
>>Included in each shipment will be some of each of 4 different
>>meteorites.
>>
>>Michael
>>
>>
>>Casper Meteorites, Inc.
>>P. O. Drawer J
>>Ithaca, New York 14851
>>USA
>>607-257-5349 (phone)
>>607-266-7904 (fax)
>>email: casper at meteorites.com
>><http://www.meteorites.com>
 Jeff Grossman <jgrossman at usgs.gov> a ??crit??:
>
>> The Kem Kem meteorites from Casper were a trigger for the NomCom
>> approving the NWA designation, which was my coinage in January 2000.
>> But to really understand the history, you need to go back a few
>> years earlier, to El Hammami (aka Hamada du Draa), which was the
>> first case for which the NomCom became aware that meteorites were
>> being transported and sold in this region. With this history, plus
>> a series of inquiries from other dealers about the Kem Kem
>> meteorites, compounded by our inability to learn many details about
>> those meteorites from Casper, we needed to take action of some kind.
>> We decided on a generic term, Northwest Africa, that could be
>> applied as a "tracking" label to all stones, even ones that had not
>> been classified, so that individual meteorites would not be divided
>> and sold under multiple names. We also had no ability to
>> investigate multiple vague or anonymous claims about meteorite
>> provenance in the region. Thus it was decided that all of these
>> meteorites would be named NWA, even those that had been classified.
>> I'm not sure what ever happened to the Kem Kems that triggered the
>> whole thing. Since I don't think Casper ever numbered them, there
>> were no synonyms to publish, assuming they eventually became NWAs.
>>
>> jeff
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:55:00 -0500
From: "Brian Cox" <searchingforfun at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Kem-Kem, the original "GENERIC" name
for NWAs, Northwest African meteorites
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Message-ID: <C7FDFBD1941F4DF8B4879F51E1CB6221 at user6e6e286533>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

Hi Jeff,

Thank you very much for your explanation of Kem Kem and the NomCom approving
the NWA designation because of all the confusion and the situation of all
the meteorites coming out of the region.

Thank you for mentioning that you and NomCom decided on "A Generic Term"
Northwest Africa, that could be applied as a "Tracking" label to all stones.

I really appreciate your explanation.

All the best!

Brian
IMCA # 6387



------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:18:03 -0500
From: "Brian Cox" <searchingforfun at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: [meteorite-list] Kem-Kem, the original "GENERIC" name for
NWAs, Northwest African meteorites
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Message-ID: <19BB00A135DF4DF1B932DC9B07ABF813 at user6e6e286533>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response

Jeff,

Thanks again for your time and for bringing more light to the subject of the
origination of the names, NWA and Kem Kem. You mentioned about where the Kem
Kems went to and I forgot to mention that I have a piece of Kem Kem that I
purchased back when Planet Brey meteorites got specimens of Kem Kem and I
have it on ebay and if you want to have a look at it with the Original COA
that says Kem Kem and the information on the card, here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/KEM-KEM-Meteorite-19-7g-IMCA-COA-Unclass-Probably-H5_W0QQitemZ270440268847QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH

I added in the description that since it's technically Unclassified and
probably an H5.

Thanks again for your help and your wonderful and thorough explanation.

Brian Cox
IMCA # 6387

Searchingforfun is my ebay User ID
>
Received on Fri 14 Aug 2009 10:48:59 PM PDT