Pyrite

specimen number:
9892111

location:
West Lake Quarry, Bridgeton, St. Louis Co., Missouri, USA

description:
Interesting locality example, this is a cluster of crystallized iridescent pyrite. Complete all around with no points of attachment and in great condition.

The West Lake Quarry in Bridgeton, Missouri, began active limestone mining and crushing operations in 1939. As excavation progressed, portions of the exhausted pits transitioned into landfilling and disposal operations starting in the early 1950s, eventually closing as a quarry site and becoming part of a regulated mixed-waste and Superfund area. Geologically, the site is situated near the eastern edge of the Missouri River floodplain, where bedrock consists primarily of flat-lying Mississippian-age carbonate strata belonging to the St. Louis Limestone formation. Within these sedimentary carbonate rocks and associated secondary vugs or fracture zones, iron disulfide mineral aggregates occur locally as brassy metallic cubes or massive crystal growths formed through low-temperature deposition.

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