IRON PYRITE

IRON PYRITE (pyrite), a mineral of the sulphides class. It contains impurities of cobalt, copper, nickel, etc. The crystals are cubic (often with hatching on the faces), pyritohedral, less often octahedral, contact and penetration twins. The color is light grey, brass‑yellow with yellowish‑brown and mottled tarnish, metallic gloss. In rocks, it occurs in the form of encroachments, veins, continuous granular aggregates in combination with chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and other sulphides. Industrial deposits usually have volcanic‑sedimentary origin. It is used for the production of sulfuric acid, the roasted product of sulphuric acid roasting – metallurgical raw materials. The impurities of copper, zinc, gold, selenium, cobalt, etc. are also extracted during its processing. In Bashkortostan, the large reserves of I.p. ores are concentrated in the copper‑sulphide deposits of the Bashk.Trans‑Urals. I.p. is the key ore mineral of sulphide and sulphide‑quartz types of gold ore deposits (Murtykty, Mindyak, etc), near‑fault schistosity zones in the Paleozoic effusives of the Magnitogorsk Megasynclinorium and the Riphean sedimentary masses of the Bashkir Meganticlinorium.