Exceedingly similar to lot 55 which was adjoining the complete slice offered here. There are three different types of meteorites: Stones (see lots 49, 59 and 60), Irons (see lots 15, 46 and 47) and the smallest group, a combination of the two, Stony-irons. There are two classes of stony irons, pallasites, which contain extraterrestrial gemstones (see lots 4, 20, 41 and 44) and mesosiderites — like the specimen now offered. Pallasites are known to originate from the mantle/core boundary of an asteroid. Mesosiderites, however, are still somewhat of an enigma. The most widely accepted theory of mesosiderite formation is they result from an impact of a semi-molten metallic core of a previously shattered asteroid with the basaltic surface of a larger, intact asteroid.

NWA 15346 was found in 2020 and is exceedingly fresh. The exterior rim of the specimen exhibits a desert varnish. The cut surface reveals pervasive fine-grained metal and sulfide inclusions and a bounty of dark fine-grained silicates. Scattered larger silicates accent this otherworldly abstraction. The silicates are primarily comprised of pyroxene with a bit of plagioclase and trace amounts of silica, merrillite, chromite and schreibersite. Segregated metal and some brecciation is in evidence. All of the aforementioned result in NWA 15346 — the 15,246^th meteorite from the North West African grid of the Sahara to be recovered, analyzed, classified and published — being assigned a B2 classification. While mesosiderites represent less than 0.5% of all meteorites, the B2 class is more rare still: of the 316 documented mesosiderites, only nine are designated B2. Moreover, NWA 15346 is the 11^th largest mesosiderite on record and now offered is among the largest complete slices of a mesosiderite available — a large format example of an exquisite, enigmatic meteorite.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.

438 x 311 x 3mm (17.25 x 12.25 x 0.1 in.) and 1391 grams (3 lbs)