Gebel Kamil Iron Meteorite, Ungrouped Ataxite, Select Size, in Acrylic Gift Box w/COA

A genuine iron meteorite from the Egyptian desert, in three sizes

Gebel Kamil is one of the most well-documented iron meteorite finds of the modern era. Discovered in 2009 in the Egyptian Sahara after being identified in satellite imagery, it produced thousands of individuals ranging from sub-gram fragments to pieces exceeding ten kilograms. Each specimen is a dense, metallic fragment of an asteroid that impacted Earth relatively recently in geological terms.

Select your size

Each size carries a guaranteed minimum weight. You will receive a specimen at or above the minimum for the size selected. Photos shown are representative examples from actual inventory, every piece varies slightly in shape and surface detail.

Structure and features

Gebel Kamil is classified as an ungrouped ataxite, an iron meteorite with such a high nickel content that it does not develop the Widmanstätten pattern seen in lower-nickel irons. Instead, the internal structure is dominated by fine-grained taenite, a nickel-iron mineral that gives the metal a smooth, homogeneous appearance in cross-section. At approximately 20% nickel by weight, Gebel Kamil sits at the high end of the nickel range for iron meteorites.

Externally, the specimens show the natural surface texture formed during atmospheric entry and subsequent weathering in the Egyptian desert. Regmaglypts, thumb-print-like depressions formed by ablation during flight, are often visible even on small fragments.

Scientific context

Ungrouped iron meteorites like Gebel Kamil do not fit cleanly into any of the established chemical groups defined by trace element composition. This makes them scientifically significant, they likely sample parent bodies not represented by the major iron meteorite groups. Gebel Kamil's high nickel content and ataxitic structure suggest an origin in a small, rapidly cooled metallic body. The associated impact crater is approximately 45 meters in diameter and is one of the youngest confirmed meteorite craters on Earth. Learn more about iron meteorite classification on our Learn About Meteorites page.

The story

Kamil Crater was found from a computer screen in Italy. In 2008 the mineralogist Vincenzo De Michele, then with the Civico Museo di Storia Naturale in Milan, was studying natural features in Google Earth satellite imagery when, by chance, he noticed a small round crater in the remote desert of southwestern Egypt, near the borders with Sudan and Libya.

De Michele contacted astrophysicist Mario Di Martino of the INAF observatory in Turin, who organised an expedition with Luigi Folco of the Museo Nazionale dell’Antartide in Siena. Planning and permissions took more than a year. In February 2010 a two-week, 40-person Italian and Egyptian expedition reached the site, confirmed the crater as a meteorite impact, and collected fragments of the iron meteorite that made it. The crater and the meteorite take their name from Gebel Kamil, a nearby mountain.

Sources: European Space Agency, Egyptian desert expedition confirms spectacular meteorite impact (2010); Meteoritical Bulletin entry for Gebel Kamil, MB 98.

What the research reports

The Meteoritical Bulletin classifies Gebel Kamil as an ungrouped iron. Its writeup in Meteoritical Bulletin 98 describes a Ni-rich ataxite with 19.8 wt% nickel, extensive shear deformation and low weathering, found on 19 February 2009. It records about 1,600 kg of shrapnel in thousands of pieces, plus a single 83 kg individual covered in regmaglypts, of which about 800 kg was recovered. The peer-reviewed studies below agree with that classification and describe the crater the meteorite made. Their findings come from the authors’ own fieldwork and samples, and are given here as the studies state them.

Folco et al. (2010): the discovery paper

L. Folco, M. Di Martino, A. El Barkooky, M. D’Orazio and fourteen Italian and Egyptian co-authors reported the find in The Kamil Crater in Egypt (Science, volume 329, page 804, 2010). During systematic searches they identified 5,178 iron meteorite specimens totalling about 1.71 tonnes in and around the 45 m crater. Apart from one 83 kg individual, all of them were shrapnel produced when the impactor exploded on striking the ground. The team’s tally differs from the Bulletin’s because it counts every specimen they located, while the Bulletin records the mass observed and the portion recovered.

D’Orazio et al. (2011): the meteorite that made the crater

M. D’Orazio, L. Folco, A. Zeoli and C. Cordier, of the University of Pisa and the Museo Nazionale dell’Antartide at the University of Siena, published Gebel Kamil: The iron meteorite that formed the Kamil crater (Egypt) (Meteoritics & Planetary Science, volume 46, pages 1179 to 1196, 2011). They date the crater to less than 5,000 years ago and describe it and its meteorite fragments as extremely well preserved. With the exception of the single 83 kg individual, they describe every specimen as “explosion fragments” weighing from under 1 g to 34 kg.

Urbini et al. (2012): one impactor, not a swarm

S. Urbini and colleagues published Geological and geophysical investigation of Kamil crater, Egypt (Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 2012). The crater’s shape indicates it was made by a single mass or a very tight cluster of fragments, a departure from the general model in which small iron meteoroids break up in the atmosphere and form fields of several craters.

Frequently asked questions

Is this meteorite authenticated? Yes. Gebel Kamil is an officially classified meteorite. See the Meteoritical Bulletin entry for Gebel Kamil. Every specimen ships with a Treasure Coast Meteorite Co. certificate of authenticity.

What does ungrouped ataxite mean? Ungrouped means the meteorite does not match the chemical fingerprint of any established iron meteorite group, it likely comes from a unique parent body. Ataxite refers to the internal structure: with very high nickel content, no Widmanstätten pattern forms, resulting in a fine-grained homogeneous metal texture.

What is included? Your selected size specimen in an acrylic gift box, plus a Treasure Coast Meteorite Co. certificate of authenticity.

Collector significance

Gebel Kamil is one of the few iron meteorites with a confirmed, documented impact crater. That provenance, a known fall location, a visible crater, satellite-confirmed discovery, makes it historically significant beyond its classification. For collectors looking for an accessible entry point into iron meteorites, or an affordable gift for someone interested in space science, Gebel Kamil offers genuine scientific value at an approachable price point. Browse our full Iron Meteorites collection for additional specimens.

Meteoritical Bulletin entry: Gebel Kamil | Classification: Iron (ungrouped, ataxite) | Find, Egypt, 2009