Lunar Meteorite: Laâyoune 002 and 003

assumed paired stones

Two views of a 27.55-g slice of Laâyoune 002. Photo credit: Craig Zlimen
Exterior and interior of a sample of Laâyoune 002 for sale on the internet. Photo credit: Craig Zliman
Two sides of a slice of Laâyoune 002. One cm cube. Image credit: Fabien Kuntz
Two small stones of Laâyoune 003 for sale on the internet. Photo credit: Eclectic-Art

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 111

Laâyoune 002 

Saguia el Hamra, Western Sahara
Find: 2022 January
Mass: 5148 g (2 pieces)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Found near Laayoune, Morocco, in January 2022 and purchased from the finder by Aziz Habibi.

Physical characteristics: Both stones (3680 g, 1468 g) lack fusion crust and have a similar overall gray color with some whitish clasts visible.

Petrography: (A. Irving, UWS and P. Carpenter, WUSL) Breccia composed of mineral clasts of anorthite, olivine, orthopyroxene, pigeonite and augite plus accessory ilmenite, chromite (with variable Ti content) and minor secondary barite.

Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa46.3-46.7, FeO/MnO = 94-98, N = 4), orthopyroxene (Fs33.5Wo3.8, FeO/MnO = 57), pigeonite (Fs36.9-45.1Wo6.5-8.4, FeO/MnO = 57-64, N = 3), augite (Fs19.1-20.9Wo39.1-39.7, FeO/MnO = 53-54, N = 2), anorthite (An96.1-97.7Or0.3-0.1, N = 3).

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia).

Specimens: 20.7 g in the form of a polished endcut at UWB; remainder with Mr. A. Habibi.

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 112

Laâyoune 003 

Saguia el Hamra, Western Sahara
Find: 2022 July 16
Mass: 340.38 g (many pieces)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Bought by Emilie Cèbe and Arnaud Valz-Blin (Eclectic-Art) on July 16, 2022, from Jérémy Bassemon, who had bought the material from an Algerian dealer.

Physical characteristics: Many cm-sized light gray fragments.

Petrography: (J. Gattacceca, CEREGE) Mineral clasts of mostly anorthite and pyroxene set in a glassy feldspathic matrix. Clasts are up to 1 mm, most of them a few 100 µm. Accessory minerals: chromite, ilmenite, and secondary barite. Rare metal, including grains Ni rich grains (up to 25 wt% Ni).

Geochemistry: Pigeonite Fs29.8±1.3Wo6.0±1.2, FeO/MnO = 64.5±6.9 (n=4). Anorthite An95.7Ab4.0Or0.3 (n=4).

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia).

Specimens: Type specimen at CEREGE. Main mass with Robert Joulin, and some material with Emilie Cèbe and Arnaud Valz-Blin (Eclectic-Art).

Randy Says…

I have not studied Laâyoune 002 and 003. Despite that the petrographic descriptions are not self-evidently similar I assume that the meteorites are paired because the reported find locations are 0.2 km apart. NWA 16531 may be another stone of the pairing.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database


Laâyoune 002 | 003

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