[1] Elaliite was first identified in nature by scientists from the University of Alberta who were given a 70 gram piece of the 15-ton El Ali meteorite that came to the attention of the scientific community in 2020.
[2] Elaliite was named after the El Ali district in Somalia where the meteorite was found.
[2] The mineral was identified by Andrew Locock who is employed by the university as the head of its electron microprobe laboratory,[3] and classified by geologist Chris Herd.
[4] Locock also identified the first natural specimen of elkinstantonite in the same sample.
[5] Synthetic versions of elaliite were produced in a French laboratory in the 1980s but could not be categorised as a mineral until they were found in nature.