PYRITE QUARTZ

PYRITE QUARTZ

A stunning cluster of Pyrite Quartz.  Perfect, thin terminated quartz crystals and beautiful cubic Pyrite combine in a super collectable piece.  Some of the quartz crystals appear like little star clusters.  There are even metal inclusions in some of the quartz crystals.  This is a super specimen that would grace any collection.  A top class piece for the mineral or crystal collector.  It is on perspex ready to go straight in the cabinet.

Location:
Borieva Mine, Madan, Bulgaria.

Dimensions:
11cm x 5cm x 2.7cm, 116g.

Pyrite: FeS2.

Pyrite is the classic “Fool’s Gold”.  There are other shiny brassy yellow minerals, but pyrite is by far the most common and the most often mistaken for gold.  Whether it is the golden look or something else, pyrite is a favorite among rock collectors.  It can have a beautiful luster and interesting crystals.  It is so common in the earth’s crust that it is found in almost every possible environment, hence it has a vast number of forms and varieties.

STRUCTURE

Pyrite’s structure is analogous to galena’s structure with a formula of PbS.  Galena though has a higher symmetry.  The difference between the two structures is that the single sulfur of galena is replaced by a pair of sulfurs in pyrite. The sulfur pair are covalently bonded together in essentially an elemental bond.  This pair disrupts the four fold symmetry that a single atom of sulfur would have preserved and thus gives pyrite a lower symmetry than galena.  We have sold the Disc form called Pyrite Sun, Spheres formed of hundreds of squares, Cubes of near square, Octahedral crystal form and crystal cluster forms.

Quartz: SiO_2.

Quartz has been known and appreciated since pre-historic times. The most ancient name known is recorded by Theophrastus in about 300-325 BCE, is kristallos. The varietal names, rock crystal and bergcrystal, preserve the ancient usage. The root words signifying ice cold and to contract (or solidify) suggest the ancient belief that kritallos was permanently solidified ice.  Quartz is also piezoelectric.

One of the most common minerals found in the Earth’s crust. If pure, quartz forms colourless, transparent and very hard crystals with a glass-like luster. A significant component of many igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, this natural form of silicon dioxide is found in an impressive range of varieties and colours. Quartz in its polished form, was the most advanced technology thousands of years ago.  Quartz is also piezoelectric.

Check out more Pyrite Specimens for sale here