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Rabat – It is a well-known fact that Morocco, and other neighbouring nations, are rich with various resources that have been sought after for a long time, but a new documentary from Al-Jazeera sheds light on a lesser-known chase for a resource; meteorites.
The recently released hour-long documentary is titled Meteorite Hunters and explores the meteorite hunting scene in Morocco, which involves scientists, academics, and regular residents looking for some income from what the rural residents call “sky rocks.”
Morocco and other North African countries are in a unique and strategic position when it comes to meteorites, according to an article published by Al-Jazeera’s documentary division.
The African continent ranks second in terms of gathering spots for meteorites, after the South Pole. And due to Morocco’s placement, meteorite hunters consider it to be an ideal location to locate valuable rocks.
The documentary describes a large industry of meteorite finding in the Atlas mountains, where local residents profit from finding the remains of meteorites, and selling them to museums and scientists who want to obtain them for research purposes.
The documentary also accompanies some of these scientists on their own expeditions in these areas to look for the valuable space rocks.
“The story started when a local resident brought us a small rock, which we discovered was a piece of a meteorite from our analysis,” Abderrahmane Ibhi, a professor and researcher at Ibn Zahr University told the documentary staff. “That person told us that a lot of people in the region had found similar pieces.”
“When we see that a meteorite has fallen, or we hear from neighbours and friends, we try to contact Mr. Abdelali, who has equipment and a friend who is a researcher in the field,” Idriss Mahjoubi, a local meteorite hunter explains, “we try to explore with them and find pieces of the meteorites.”
The documentary also shows the life of a professional full-time meteorite trader, who has been operating since 1998 and has established a significant network of meteorite researchers and locals in the area.
The meteorite trade in Morocco could not have been possible without the early 20th century explorations by Europeans, especially the French, who taught Moroccan nomads and locals how to differentiate normal rocks from valuable meteorites.
More than 80% of meteorites that are traded and displayed in European museums are Moroccan in origin, according to the article accompanying the documentary, including the “Black Beauty”, a space rock that is believed to have originally belonged to Mars and is 4.4 billion years old.
Meteorites can prove to be an extremely valuable resource to Morocco’s locals and potentially to its government, as some of these rocks can have astronomical values, rivalling those of rare gemstones and gold, due to their demand in the scientific community.
