Previously unknown minerals identified in meteorite

The discovery could help geologists to uncover conditions deep inside growing planets

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Two new minerals, never seen before in nature, have been recently discovered inside a meteorite.

The space rock was identified near the EI Ali district of Somalia in 2020, but locals have known of it for much longer. They call the stone Nightfall’ in folk songs and dances that go back seven generations. It is huge, weighing more than 15 tonnes, making it the ninth-largest meteorite ever discovered, and is predominantly made of iron and nickel.

Shortly after its discovery, a 70g slice was sent to Chris Herd at the University of Alberta for analysis. Herd soon noticed something unusual in the data, which was identified as a pair of new minerals.