What is it and where is it formed?  Pyrite is an iron ore that is called “Fool’s gold” because it looks so much like gold.  Many Old West miners were ‘fooled’ into thinking they were rich when they found it.   Pyrite is found in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rock areas.

How and where is it mined?  Pyrite is mined with underground mining.  It can be dangerous to mine pyrite.  If it combines with oxygen and water, it becomes sulfuric acid, and sinks into the ground.  Then it travels into aquifers, rivers, and streams and kills everything in it.  After they get the pyrite ore out of the ground, it is heated.  This takes the iron and sulfur out of it.  It is mined all over the world.  The most pyrite comes from the United States, Italy, Russia, Sweden, and Peru.

What is it used for?  Pyrite is used for car batteries, appliances, food cans, paper, tools, some jewelry, and machinery.

It has sulfur and iron in it.