PYRITE CUBES FROM SPAIN FOR SALE

More About Spanish Pyrite Cubes

The pyrite deposit of Ampliación a Victoria is located 3 kilometers northwest from Navajún town in the Alcarama mountain chain. The history of mining in the area goes back to Roman silver mining as early as 200 B.C.E. Modern galena mining led to the discovery of the pyrite in 1965, and since then specimens from this locality have been sought out by collectors worldwide. The largest crystal found to date was over 19 centimeters and weighed 9.5 kilograms!

FeS2, otherwise known as Pyrite, or 'Fool's Gold' contains about 47 percent iron and 53 percent sulfur. It gets the name 'fool's gold' because of its brassy golden color, but the name pyrite comes from the Greek word pur, meaning "fire." In ancient times pyrite was struck against flint to create sparks and start fires.

It should be noted for collectors that because the rock is soft, the cubes from this mines almost always come loose during collection. Care is taken during preparation to stabilize, repair, and make sure everything is remounted in its natural position. This means that nearly all of the cubes still in the rock from this locality have been remounted, and most clusters of multiple cubes have been stabilized. All specimens are remounted in their in-situ positions, and none of the specimens on our site are composites.