[meteorite-list] Morocco new fall news.

[Michael Farmer]

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