Three Lustrous, Natural Pyrite Cubes in Rock - Navajun, Spain

At first glance some people assume that these pyrite cubes are man-made, but the amazing thing is that they are natural! Pyrite from this location is famous for its beautiful shine and near-perfect cubic formation, and sculptural appearance. It should be noted for collectors that because the rock is soft, the cubes very often come loose during collection. Care is taken during preparation to stabalize, repair and make sure everything is remounted in it's natural position. This means that nearly all of the pyrite cubes still in the rock from this locality have been remounted, and most clusters of multiple cubes have been stabalized. Care is taken during preparation to make sure things are remounted in their as found positions and none of the specimens we sell are composites.

The pyrite deposit of "Ampliación a Victoria" is located 3km northwest from Navajún town, in the Alcarama mountain chain. The history of mining in the area goes back to Romans mining for silver. 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 world wide. The largest crystal to-date was over 19cm and weighed 9.5kg.

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, however; 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.