There is a long established symbiotic relationship among collectors, hunters, and scientists. Hunters depend on collectors to make a living. Hunters depend on scientists to classify their finds, in order to firmly establish type, rarity, and hence value. Science, apart from the Antartica meteorite collecting expeditions, depends on new finds donated to their labs as part of the requirement for classification. Science obtains new meteorites this way. Collectors buy classified meteorites.
All interconnected and dependent on the other. Without collectors, why hunt for valuable rocks, made valuable by supply and demand in an existing collector market? I'm sure many meteorite scientists would prefer collectors did not exist, but they must admit, we have far more known meteorites because there is a market. So, all my hot air is just to say it would be unusual for a recognized lab to "take" someone. I'm sure it will work the way it usually does, and if not, we have a record right here as well as paper. I do believe the outcome here, regardless if meteorite or meteorwrong, will at least be ethical. BTW, one thing that is different about Canada compared to the US is that it is illegal to export meteorites found in Canada without a government permit.
