Santa Catharina - Iron IAB-ung - Brasil - Description language - French

The Santa Catharina iron meteorite, first thought to be nickel ore, was discovered in 1875 by Goncalves da Rosa on the island of São Francisco do Sul in the state of Santa Catharina. It is estimated to have collided with the Earth about 70-110 million years ago, creating a 12-kilometre crater in present-day Santa Catharina.

This is ataxite, which contains 35% nickel. It's classified as IAB-ung iron. A total of 7 tonnes have been discovered. Much of it was accidentally transported to England in an attempt to extract the nickel, including the main mass of 2.5 tons. A further 2.5 tonnes were preserved at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, but are now presumably lost due to a fire in 2018.

The meteorite is unusual in 3 important respects - it is unusually rich in nickel (about 30% of the unoxidized parts), unusually rich in troilite, and heavily weathered. It is a shale material that has been fused with terrestrial soil.