Niger to probe sale of world's biggest rock from space in the US

The Niger says it will open an investigation following the auction in the United States of America of a meteorite discovered in the West African country.

"The Council of Ministers was informed of the auction in the United States of America for nearly US$5 million of a meteorite discovered in the Agadez region," according to a government statement broadcast on public television following a cabinet meeting on Friday.

"In light of this situation, the Council of Ministers instructed the Minister of Mines, the Minister of Higher Education, and the Minister of Justice to conduct investigations and shed light on this case, which likely bears all the hallmarks of illicit international trafficking," it added.

Last Wednesday, Sotheby's auction house sold a meteorite discovered in 2023 in Niger and billed as "the largest Martian rock ever found on Earth" for $4.3 million at a sale in New York, United States.

Known as NWA 16788, this meteorite weighs 24.5 kg and measures nearly 38.1 cm long.

According to Western media reports, it was discovered by "a meteorite hunter" before undergoing "a detailed analysis" by the Shanghai Institute of Astronomy (China), which confirmed its Martian origin and classified it "among shergottines, a rare type of meteorite from Mars."

Meteorites are described as "rocky remnants left by an asteroid or comet that has passed through Earth's atmosphere."