The meteorite was found near and was named after Vermillion, Marshall County, Kansas. It was found by two farmers while planting on a grain field in 1991. It was recognized as a meteorite and first described in 1995.
The Vermillion meteorite is classified as a pyroxene pallasite because it contains pyroxene as an accessory mineral and shares a distinct oxygen isotope signature with Yamato 8451. Some studies also object to this grouping, referring to the differences in siderophiletrace elements and the occurrence of cohenite in the Vermillion meteorite.
^ abBoesenberg, Joseph S.; Davis, Andrew M.; Prinz, Martin; Weisberg, Michael K.; Clayton, Robert N.; Mayeda, Toshiko K. (1 July 2000). "The pyroxene pallasites, Vermillion and Yamato 8451: Not quite a couple". Meteoritics & Planetary Science35 (4): 757–769. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01460.x.