Russian gold prospectors thought they had struck it rich. On the ground before them was a yellow-specked 3.96kg lump of metal. It ended up being far more valuable.
It was a meteorite. It had only recently tumbled out of the sky.
Most of it was pretty ordinary for a meteorite: an alloy called kamacite made up of molten iron and nickel. The remaining two per cent was a sprinkling of minerals also mostly only found in space rocks.
![The meteorite found in the Siberian region of Uakit. It has been found to contain a hard, never-before-seen, mineral. Photo / Supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/YXCEWOOGXFIQU6VTVTB52GJE4A.jpg?auth=2a08afa0dd1a7d2e9378cdd338190556d0d5d550199a6c80cede9e4d282a4e2c&width=16&height=13&quality=70&smart=true)
When put under the microscope, one of them was seen to be something new.