Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
  • yesterday
Niger opens investigation into $5 million sale of Martian meteorite found in Agadez region

Niger says it will open an investigation into the sale of a Martian meteorite discovered in the West African country’s Agadez region in 2023.

READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2025/07/21/niger-opens-investigation-into-5-million-sale-of-martian-meteorite-found-in-agadez-region

Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.

Africanews is available in English and French.
Website : www.africanews.com
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00Niger says it will open an investigation into the sale of a Martian meteorite
00:05discovered in the West African country's Agadez region in 2023.
00:10The rock is the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth
00:14and sold for more than $5 million at an auction in New York last week.
00:19In a statement broadcast on public television,
00:22the government said it has instructed the Minister of Mines,
00:25Higher Education and Justice to look into the case,
00:29which it said likely bears the hallmarks of illicit international trafficking.
00:35At 25 kilograms, the red, brown and grey meteorite is about 70% larger
00:40than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth.
00:44It represents nearly 7% of all Martian material currently on this planet,
00:49according to Sotheby's auction house, which led the sale.
00:53It was discovered by a meteorite hunter in the Sahara Desert in 2023.
00:59The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.

Recommended