♡
Save to favorites — view your list
Typical Price Tiers (per piece)
Entry
$5+
Mid-tier
$30+
Premium
$300+
Investment
$3,000+
Navajún Spanish cubes / Peruvian dodecahedra. Pyrite disease risk reduces investment appeal.
Approximate retail prices. Wholesale + private sale typically 40-60% of retail. Auction premium 10-25%. For investment-grade purchase steps, see the investment checklist.
Crystal Structure
Cubic — Fe in FCC, S₂ "dumbbells" in voids; isostructural with NaCl.
External databases provide CIF (Crystallographic Information File) downloads + interactive 3D viewers. AMCSD: American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database (free, RRUFF-hosted). COD: open community-curated database.
Elemental Composition (by mass)
| Element | Mass % | Visual |
|---|---|---|
| S Sulfur | 53.45% | |
| Fe Iron | 46.55% |
Computed from simplified end-member formula. Solid-solution series, water content, and trace substitutions cause real-world variation.
Reference Resources
- Fe sulfide; many localities
- Conservation reference
IMA Abbreviation (Whitney-Evans 2010)
Py
→ Pyrite
Fe sulfide — most common
Standard symbol from American Mineralogist (Whitney & Evans, 2010). Used in thin-section labeling, phase diagrams, and IMA-style species records.
⏳ Long-term Aging & Care Timeline
pyrite disease (sulfide oxidation)years
Trigger: humidity > 60%
Intervention: Forms sulfuric acid and crumbles. Common in marcasite + high-S pyrite. Store in low humidity (< 50%); silica gel.
Pronunciation
/ˈpaɪraɪt/
↔ PYE-rite
Greek pyrites (fire stone)
Pseudomorph Relationships
Replaced by — this mineral commonly becomes:
→ Limonite replacement
Pyrite weathers to limonite (FeO(OH)) in oxidizing conditions while retaining cubic habit. Very common.
Worldwide; Navajún cubes weather this way.
→ Goethite replacement
Like limonite, but goethite-specific. Botryoidal goethite is often a pseudomorph after pyrite framboids.
Worldwide.
Replaces — this mineral is often a pseudomorph after:
← Fossil shell replacement
Sulfide-rich anoxic muds preserve shells as pyrite — "fool's gold" ammonites.
Wessex shale, England.
A pseudomorph (Greek "false form") is a mineral with the external shape of another species — the chemistry has changed but the crystal habit is inherited. › Full catalogue
Tenacity
Behavior:
brittle
Under stress:
Shatters; sparks struck
Brittle despite metallic appearance — opposite of gold malleability. Diagnostic.
Luster
metallic
Brassy metallic — the "fool's gold" luster.
Color Cause (Chromophore)
Chromophore:
d-electron transitions
Mechanism:
metallic FeS₂
Color produced:
brassy gold
Color makes it the original "fool's gold" — but band structure quite different from Au.
Notable localities (coordinates)
- Navajún — La Rioja, Spain42.1000, -2.2000 › OpenStreetMap
All localities and full GeoJSON available at /wp-json/mmb/v1/localities-geo
Diaphaneity (Transparency)
opaque
Metallic; brassy yellow.
Type Locality
(ancient — Greek "pyrites lithos") — Worldwide
Source: Theophrastus
Magnetism
Category:
diamagnetic
Test result:
Slight repulsion (pure pyrite)
FeS₂ — surprisingly diamagnetic despite Fe content. Distinguishes from pyrrhotite, which IS magnetic.
Test with rare-earth magnet (N42 or N52 neodymium). Suspend specimen on thread for sensitive paramagnetic detection. Diamagnetic minerals are weakly repelled (visible only with strong magnets like bismuth).
Diagnostic Field Tests
Streak test→ Greenish black powder
Diagnostic vs gold (golden streak).
Hardness→ Mohs 6 — scratches glass
Distinguishes from chalcopyrite (Mohs 3.5–4).
Smell when broken→ Sulfur smell when freshly broken
Faint but present in fresh material.
⚠ Use dilute HCl (~10%) only on inconspicuous spots; rinse promptly. Smell-tests should be brief and ventilated. Taste-test ONLY halite/sylvite — never lead, arsenic, or sulfur minerals.
Specific Gravity
4.95–5.10
g/cm³
heavy
FeS₂; brassy "fool's gold".
For comparison: water = 1.00, glass ≈ 2.5, quartz = 2.65, corundum ≈ 4.00, galena ≈ 7.50, gold ≈ 19.3.
Streak Test
greenish black
Diagnostic against gold (yellow streak). Often called "fool's gold" for this reason.
Streak = color of the powdered mineral. Drag specimen across unglazed white porcelain plate (Mohs 6.5). For minerals harder than the plate, crush a small flake into powder and observe color.
Geological Setting
Environment:
multiple
Host rock:
hydrothermal vein, sedimentary (pyritized fossils), metamorphic schist, magmatic
Companions:
Forms in almost every sulfide-bearing environment. Spanish Navajún cubes are sedimentary marls.
Twinning Laws
Iron cross twinpenetration
Two pyritohedra interpenetrating at 90°. Famous twins.
Care notesKeep dry; humid air oxidizes ("pyrite disease") to brown powder. Use silica gel. Full cleaning guide →
Cleavage & Fracture
Cleavage:
indistinct — (conchoidal break)
Fracture:
conchoidal / uneven
Cubic habit but no useful cleavage.
Market availability: Common
Widely available in most dealer stocks. Specimens span all price tiers.
Collector tier: Cabinet Classic
World-class display species — sought after for cabinet collections, well-documented localities, frequent show-piece pieces.
Mohs 6-6.5
Vickers (~) 820 HV
Knoop (~) 870 HK
Nickel–Strunz
2.EB.05aDana
02.12.01.01Element composition by mass
Formula: FeS2 · molar mass: 119.97 g/mol
| S | 53.45% | |
| Fe | 46.55% |
Computed from atomic weights (IUPAC 2021). Site-occupancy groups (Fe,Mn) split equally.
Mohs Hardness
6-6.5
Pyrite sits at 6-6.5 on the Mohs scale — just hard enough to scratch glass.
Colors:
Streak
Greenish black to brownish black
Greenish black to brownish black
Crystal system
Isometric (Cubic)
Isometric (Cubic)
Pronunciation/ˈpaɪraɪt/
Type localityRío Tinto, Huelva, Spain
✓ I have this★ WishlistView my collection →
Discovery Known since antiquity
Sulfides & SulfosaltsSulfides
TL;DR · 1 min read
Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide on Earth and the species that gave us the term "fool's gold. " For collectors, the Shangbao Mine in Hunan is the modern reference: brassy cubes and pyritohedra of remarkable size and luster, often perched on milky quartz with selective overgrowth of orange calcite.
Text size:AAA
Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide on Earth and the species that gave us the term "fool's gold." For collectors, the Shangbao Mine in Hunan is the modern reference: brassy cubes and pyritohedra of remarkable size and luster, often perched on milky quartz with selective overgrowth of orange calcite.
Notable Varieties #
- Marcasite (orthorhombic FeS2 polymorph)
- Bravoite (Ni-rich variety)
The Chinese Angle #
Shangbao Mine produces the worldwide reference for Chinese pyrite – cubes 5-15 cm with mirror-bright faces, often in three-species combinations with quartz and orange calcite. The Huanggangzhai pyrite, by contrast, runs to pyritohedral habit and is sometimes mistaken for distinct species.
Test at home — what scratches what
Will scratch your specimen:
⚙ Sharp steel needle / quartz scratch (Mohs 7) · 🪨 Topaz scratch test (Mohs 8) · 💎 Corundum (sapphire/ruby) (Mohs 9) · 💠 Diamond (Mohs 10)
⚙ Sharp steel needle / quartz scratch (Mohs 7) · 🪨 Topaz scratch test (Mohs 8) · 💎 Corundum (sapphire/ruby) (Mohs 9) · 💠 Diamond (Mohs 10)
Your specimen will scratch:
👆 Talc dust (Mohs 1) · 💅 Fingernail (Mohs 2.5) · 🪙 Copper coin (US penny) (Mohs 3.5) · 🔪 Steel pocket knife (soft steel) (Mohs 5) · 🥃 Glass plate (Mohs 5.5)
👆 Talc dust (Mohs 1) · 💅 Fingernail (Mohs 2.5) · 🪙 Copper coin (US penny) (Mohs 3.5) · 🔪 Steel pocket knife (soft steel) (Mohs 5) · 🥃 Glass plate (Mohs 5.5)
Always test on an inconspicuous edge first. Save the test for unimportant specimens — better to use a streak plate or knowledge of locality + paragenesis.
Cite this entry
APA
MyMineralBox Editorial Team. (2026). Pyrite. My Mineral Box. Retrieved May 23, 2026, from https://mymineralbox.com/mineral-encyclopedia/minerals/pyrite/
MLA
MyMineralBox Editorial Team. "Pyrite." My Mineral Box, 2026, https://mymineralbox.com/mineral-encyclopedia/minerals/pyrite/. Accessed May 23, 2026.
Chicago
MyMineralBox Editorial Team. "Pyrite." My Mineral Box. Last modified May 4, 2026. https://mymineralbox.com/mineral-encyclopedia/minerals/pyrite/.
BibTeX
@misc{mmb_pyrite,
author = {{MyMineralBox Editorial Team}},
title = {{Pyrite}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {My Mineral Box},
url = {https://mymineralbox.com/mineral-encyclopedia/minerals/pyrite/},
urldate = {2026-05-23}
}
