Staff Picks

On March 4^th, 1960 at 1:06 a.m., a bright fireball tore through Earth's atmosphere above Central Alberta. The space rock travelled at 42 kilometres per second, its flash witnessed by hundreds of people as far away as the Rocky Mountain region of British Columbia. The giant rock detonated, creating a sound shock wave audible over 5,000 square kilometres. The sonic boom rattled windows, shook the foundations of homes, and startled families from their sleep. Shards of the stone rained down just north of Bruderheim, some forming pits as deep as 30 centimetres, many rebounding off the frozen ground and landing on the snow.

Based on eye-witness reports, it is believed that the meteorite was first observed by Alexis Simon, a resident of the Paul’s Band Indian Reserve at Duffield, Alberta. He noted the north-easterly direction of the rock, its swift speed, and that it looked like it was giving off ‘flashes of fire’. He also described a rushing sound that resembled a high wind and lasted about 5 seconds after the fireball passed.

Hundreds of grit- and pebble-sized fragments were collected off of river ice. Undoubtedly many thousands of small fragments were not seen against the black dirt of fields and plowed under as farmers prepared to seed their crops.

Nearly 700 meteorite fragments were found with a total weight of over 660 pounds—making it the largest recovered fall in Canadian history.  This nice crusted part slice specimen will be a prized item in your collection. 

This hard to acquire piece is a high quality specimen that would make an amazing addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Jensen Meteorites and a Canagem Collection specimen cards.

Sharp terminated metallic crystals of tetrahedrite with quartz crystals and covered with rare siderite and sphalerite. The sphalerite on the cluster reacts to UV light with a lovely orange color.  This top specimen is in very good condition. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection.

Name: Tetrahedrite, Sphalerite, Calcite and Siderite Crystal Cluster
Specimen Size:   Cabinet-sized
Dimensions:  88x76x63 mm / 3.5x3x2.5 inches
Weight: 670 Grams /  1Lb 7 oz
Origin: Mined in Huaron Mine, Peru

This is a stunning Veevers classified meteorite weighing 2.67 grams. Mark Bostick said that the specimen was shaped like a bird claw.  He traded the main mass of this amazing meteorite to TCU.  This amazingly well preserved specimen measures 15x8x7 mm. 

The Veevers crater is located in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia. It has a diameter of 60-80 meters across and a depth of about 6-7 meters. The crater's rim is raised 1.5m above the surrounding plain, and contains exposed rocks thrown from the center of the crater. The sides are gravelly rock with a few larger rocks mixed within. The bottom of the crater is covered with sand.  Veevers is isolated in a vast, flat landscape with no other features in sight. Discovered in the mid-1970's and named by Yeates, A.N., Crowe, R.W.A. & Towner, R.R., in 1976, as The Veevers Crater in honor of Australian geologist Prof. John Veevers, for his work at mapping Western Australia.

In 1984, Dr. Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker investigated meteorite craters and ancient impact structures throughout Australia. Their search recovered thirty-six small meteoritic fragments from the Veevers crater. Their finds totaled 298.1 grams, and included the largest found to date, 36.3g., now cleaned and coated it weighs 37.0 grams. The Veevers fragments have been described as single crystals of kamacite. Kamacite is a metallic iron with up to 7.5% nickel. Since the Shoemaker trip, more meteorite fragments have been found, bringing the total known weight to around 1 kg. The Veevers crater is naturally rich in iron-rich laterite, which makes recovery of small meteorite fragments hard. One of only two impact craters that group IIAB meteorites have been discovered at. The other being the Sikhote-Alin craters in Eastern Siberia, Russia.

Would be an exceptional and rare addition to any new or existing collection.  This historically important specimen will come in its original Mark Bostick display box and include The Mark Bostick Collection and Canagem Collection specimen cards.

This is a stunning Dronino classified meteorite end cut weighing 97.95 grams. Its dimensions are 47x34x21 mm.  This interesting meteorite is a Nickel-Iron Meteorite, an Ataxite with an ungrouped element structure.

A 40 kg iron was found by Oleg Gus’kov, Moscow resident, as he was returning home from collecting mushrooms near the village of Dronino in the Ryazan district. In early 2003, it was taken to Vernad to The Meteoritical Society΄s Meteorite Nomenclature Committee which defined this meteorite as ungrouped ataxite. In the summer of 2003, the Meteoritic Expedition of Ural State Technical University – UPI and meteorite hunters collected more than 600 fragments (the largest is 250 kg) totaling about 3 000 kg and occurring at a depth of 0.2-2 m across an area of 0.5x1.5 km.

The distribution of the fragments suggests that the meteorite formed a now-buried crater about 30 m in diameter. This crater is not reflected in the present-day topography of the site. No historical records exist of a meteorite fall; thus, it appears likely that the meteorite fell earlier than the 12th century when the area was largely unpopulated.

These pieces are becoming more difficult to acquire so this is a good time to get a fine specimen. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a stunning Dronino classified meteorite slice weighing 49.3 grams. Its dimensions are 42x21x10 mm.  This interesting meteorite is a Nickel-Iron Meteorite, an Ataxite with an ungrouped element structure.

A 40 kg iron was found by Oleg Gus’kov, Moscow resident, as he was returning home from collecting mushrooms near the village of Dronino in the Ryazan district. In early 2003, it was taken to Vernad to The Meteoritical Society΄s Meteorite Nomenclature Committee which defined this meteorite as ungrouped ataxite. In the summer of 2003, the Meteoritic Expedition of Ural State Technical University – UPI and meteorite hunters collected more than 600 fragments (the largest is 250 kg) totaling about 3 000 kg and occurring at a depth of 0.2-2 m across an area of 0.5x1.5 km.

The distribution of the fragments suggests that the meteorite formed a now-buried crater about 30 m in diameter. This crater is not reflected in the present-day topography of the site. No historical records exist of a meteorite fall; thus, it appears likely that the meteorite fell earlier than the 12th century when the area was largely unpopulated.

These pieces are becoming more difficult to acquire so this is a good time to get a fine specimen. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

An olivine volcanic bomb is a type of volcanic rock that contains olivine crystals and has been ejected during a volcanic eruption. Olivine is a mineral that is commonly found in the Earth's mantle and is one of the first minerals to crystallize as magma cools.

Volcanic bombs are large clots of lava that are ejected from a volcano during an explosive eruption. They can vary in size, and their shapes are often streamlined due to their molten nature as they are thrown through the air. When these volcanic bombs contain olivine crystals, they are referred to as olivine volcanic bombs.

The crystal face has been cut and polished to show the red and green olivine crystals which are showcased beautifully against the surrounding lava crust. This museum grade specimen would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

Name: Red Olivine Crystal Bomb
Specimen Size:  Large Cabinet-Sized
Dimensions: 110x91x51 mm / 4.3x3.6x 2.0 Inches
Weight: 768.7 Grams / 1 Lb 11 Ounces
Details: Volcanic activity Mortlake, Victoria, Australia

This is a superb looking Dhofar 221 classified meteorite weighing 66.8 grams. Its dimensions are 61x43x17 mm. This L5 classified meteorite was found in Zufar, Oman in 2000 and is 1 of 3003 approved meteorites classified as such. The total weight of the 100's of pieces recovered is recorded as a low 3.54 kg and the meteorite has a shock stage of 3 and weathering grade of 3.

This piece displays extremely well because of its beautiful crust, superb shape and is a good size. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a nice end cut of the Northwest Africa 978 meteorite. This is another of the great and rare meteorites from the Sahara. It is classified as a Stone, Chondrite Rumurutiite, (R3.8). This meteorite was found in 2001 in many fragments and small individuals, very fresh but sandblasted, for a low TKW of 722 grams. The Shock stage is registered at 3 and the Weathering grade at 2.

It is one of the rarest meteorite types with only 9 Rumuruti 3.8 type meteorites known,  most being found in Antarctica. This unique group of chondrites has basically no FeNi-metal in comparison to other chondrite groups. The R chondrites also have the highest 17O value of any other solar system material. This piece weighs 5.02 grams an measures 31x18x8mm. Note the flat edge of this piece is crusted, it is not a cut surface.

This hard to acquire piece displays very well with its diamond lap finish.  This high quality specimen would make an amazing addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a ELKK Meteorites and a Canagem Collection specimen cards.