Huoyanshan        43°2.55’N, 89°51.51’E

Xinjiang, China

Find: 2016 Oct 6

Classification: Iron meteorite (IAB-sLH)

History: The first piece was found on Oct. 6, 2016, by Mr. Yanzheng Wang and Jifa Li, workers from a nearby oil field, who were searching for wind-eroded stones on the desert. The find site is 15 km NE of the Mountain Huoyanshan, which was noted in the famous 16th century novel, "A Journey to the West," as having emerged from pieces of charcoal on fire falling from Heaven. 18 more pieces were collected from a strewn field of 2 × 1.5 km² during the following days. These irons weigh from 100 g up to 8.9 kg, with a total mass of ~45 kg. The news was leaked soon, and people rushed the desert to search for the irons with metal detectors. It is estimated that thousands pieces with a total mass of ~700 kg have been collected.

Physical characteristics: Physical characteritics: Rusted only on the bottom.

Petrography: finest octahedrite, with kamacite (band width <0.035 mm) and taenite forming a Widmanstätten pattern. Minor schreibersite occurs within kamacite. Mineral compositions: Kamacite (3.4-7.3 wt % Ni), Taenite (typical M-type zoning with Ni content decreasing from 47.3 wt % at the rims to 16.5 wt % at the cores), and minor schreibersite (46.2-53.9 wt % Ni, 12.9-16.4 wt % P) (N. Wang and Y. Lin, IGGCAS).

Geochemistry: Ni 21.1 wt % (by ICP-AES), and trace elements of (by ICP-MS, in µg/g) Ir 0.02, Ge 1.73, Ga 2.0, Au 1.81 (G. Wang, GIGCAS)

Classification: Iron (IAB-sLH)

Specimens: 1.0 kg in IGGCAS, ~400 kg with Mr. Wang, Li and 3 others; ~300 kg with unknown owners.