 Ripert said that he had been guided blindfolded by a local chieftain to a natural source of iron, after a 12-hour-long camel ride to the south-east of Chinguetti.He bagged a 4 kilogram fragment of the rock, which found its way to Paris some years later, where geologist Alfred Lacroix pronounced that it was an important discovery.However, despite the attempts of several expeditions since, the supposed meteorite could not be found again.