In 2005, a driver near Russia’s Chulyshman River picked up a stone to wedge under his car wheel and kept it for 20 years; the Meteoritical Bulletin has now approved it as the Altai Republic’s first meteorite.

IGM said the finder was a local resident who picked up the stone in 2005 near the Katu-Yaryk pass in Ulagansky District, on the bank of the Chulyshman River. He initially placed it beneath a vehicle wheel, became interested in the stone and later tried to have the find examined or sold. After encountering fraudsters, he kept it for about 20 years.

In 2025, the finder donated the stone to Viktor Likhachev, head of the Samotsvety creative association in the village of Verkh-Uymon. IGM said Likhachev considered proper scientific examination necessary and the specimen subsequently reached researchers at the institute.

IGM scientists Andrey Vishnevsky and Viktor Sharygin examined fragments of the meteorite, documented its structure and chemical composition and submitted an application for formal recognition. IGM reported that the meteorite was entered into the Meteoritical Bulletin database under the name Chulyshman on September 22, 2026.

The Meteoritical Bulletin Database classification system defines H5 as an ordinary chondrite belonging to the high-iron H chemical group and petrologic type 5. Type 5 material has undergone sufficient thermal metamorphism to homogenize major silicate minerals and make many original chondrule outlines less distinct.

Chulyshman’s remaining chondrules are uncommon and show several textures. IGM reported that granular and porphyritic forms predominate, with barred and radial structures occurring less frequently.

The main mineral assemblage identified by IGM consists of granular olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene with plagioclase, the iron sulfide troilite and abundant Fe-Ni alloy. The institute also reported smaller amounts of chromite, pentlandite, ilmenite, chlorapatite, native copper and the phosphate mineral merrillite.

Terrestrial weathering has substantially altered Chulyshman. IGM found that a significant part of its original sulfides and metal had been replaced by iron hydroxides forming rims, concentrations and veins. Microscopic examination also showed fine branching fractures filled with goethite.

The degree of oxidation provides the basis for the institute’s estimate of how long the meteorite has been on Earth. IGM estimated that at least several hundred years, and probably considerably longer, had passed since its fall. The estimate is based on alteration of the specimen and does not establish a precise fall date.

IGM also noted that Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk are ordinary chondrites and reported that Chulyshman has a comparatively high content of metal and sulfides. The institute described the specimen as strongly oxidized despite the abundance of those phases in its original mineral assemblage.

A fragment of Chulyshman is planned for display at the Central Siberian Geological Museum in Akademgorodok. The main mass, described by IGM as the largest fragment, is displayed at the Samotsvety museum in Verkh-Uymon in the Altai Republic’s Ust-Koksinsky District.

References:

¹ Метеорит «Чулышман». В ИГМ СО РАН изучили первый метеорит, найденный на территории Горного Алтая – V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences – November 6, 2026

² Meteoritical Bulletin: Recommended classifications – Meteoritical Bulletin Database – Accessed November 15, 2026