This is a simple photo view of some pyrite on a local Carboniferous limestone fossil. There is only a little bit of it exposed in this specimen, but it’s flat and you can see the metallic glow quite easily at first glance. I’m not sure what sort of shelled creature this is, likely a cephalopod (Squid) or a gastropod (Snail). I’ll find small bits of pyrite here and there as I dig, but I have yet to spot a piece larger than what is shown below.
Pyrite is better known as fools gold. When you see it, it’s very easy to see why. You see a bright golden shiny metal, but it is actually a mineral. The chemical formula for Pyrite is FeS2. This is one Iron and two Sulfur atoms in a repeating molecule.