MOSCOW — Scientists have found more than 50 tiny fragments of a meteor that exploded over Russia’s Ural Mountains, and preliminary tests are turning up information about its contents.

Local residents, however, seem more interested in the black market value of the fragments. As they search for pieces of the meteor, sales offers are filling the Internet, and police are warning all purchasers to prepare for possible fraud.

The meteor was the largest recorded space rock to hit Earth in more than a century. Health officials said 46 of the injured remain hospitalized.

Viktor Grokhovsky, who led the expedition from Urals Federal University, said Monday that 53 fragments of the meteor have been plucked from the ice-covered Chebarkul Lake. He said they are about 10 percent iron and belong to the chondrite type, the most common variation of meteorites found on Earth.