Catalina 003        25°12’16.82"S, 69°49’42.89"W

Antofagasta, Chile

Found: 1999

Classification: Iron meteorite (IVB)

History: A mass of 3180 g was found by Luc Labenne on a gravel surface in 1999 near the mine named Toro, 70 km northeast of Taltal.

Physical characteristics: The 250 × 110 × 35 mm mass has the shape of a wing with a 250 mm long sharp edge. The top is covered by sand-blasted pockmarks with small wide pits and sharp edges at the cusps that are characteristic of irons from the Atacama Desert. On the top, a few deeper depressions may reflect the weathering loss of opaque nodules.

Petrography: Very fresh, unweathered ataxite. A small section (7 × 10 mm) had one small FeS/metal inclusion, which is very fine grained (<10 μm) and has an FeS/metal ratio far below the eutectic value. No other inclusions recognized. Sample may have heat-altered rim.

Geochemistry: Composition: 7.60 mg/g Co, 166.1 mg/g Ni, 0.17 μg/g Ga, <50 μg/g Ge, 0.43 μg/g As, 27.6 μg/g Ir, and 0.070 μg/g Au. Based on the composition and structure, the iron belongs to group IVB. The nearest relative from Chile is Iquique but these are resolvable: the As, Ir and Au contents of Iquique are 0.39, 31.1 and 0.058, well outside 95% confidence limits on the data for Catalina 003.

Classification: Iron (ataxite), IVB

Specimens: 135 g type specimen, UCLA; main mass, Labenne.