Jikharra 001 - Achondrite, Eucrite Polished Slice

Jikharra 001 is a stony meteorite found in northeastern Libya in 2022, classified as an HED achondrite and specifically a eucritic melt breccia. This slice has been cut and polished to show the interior, and the weathering visible in the stone is part of its character, with oxidation and staining running through the rock. It has been resin coated to stabilize the surface and give it a clean, finished look.

Jikharra 001 is made up of centimeter-sized lithic clasts set in abundant recrystallized shock melt, and the clasts consist of calcic plagioclase and fine-grained pigeonite aggregates. That shock-melted texture records violent impacts on its parent body. Eucrites are thought to come from the asteroid 4 Vesta, and together with howardites and diogenites they form the HED group.

The recovered fragments total more than 2.5 tonnes, making this one of the largest known eucrite finds. Despite that, the strewn field is remote and the stone is still a sought-after piece of Vesta in any achondrite or HED suite.

Approx. specimen size: 107mm x 50mm x 15mm

Approx. specimen weight: 32.29 grams