Cubic pyrite, the “perfect mineral” extracted from a Spanish town where three people live

In the region of Alhama-Linares, in the Spanish community of La Rioja, one of the most coveted hidden gems in the world is hidden: the cubic pyrite mine of Navajún. It is an incredibly shaped “perfect mineral”, for which collectors all over the world pay a fortune.

The pyrites from this place, on the border with the province of Soria, are found in the exhibitions of the most important natural science museums in the world. The funny thing is that Navajún is a city where only three people live.

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The minerals of the place are composed of sulfur and iron, but it is their shapes full of straight lines that arise naturally that make them so desired: they look like cubes, rectangles or some other similar piece and they appear to have been sculpted by a specialist, but this is how you find them. The process that makes them unique is known as “cubic crystallization”.

The deposit is located in the Sierra de Alcarama, four kilometers from Navajún and was discovered in 1965 by Pedro Ansorena, the current mine manager. It features materials from the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, including traces of dinosaurs and three layers (levels) with pyrites.

“Pyrite is a very common mineral, but here we have the most perfect cubes. There are even cubes that give equal edges and angles, that is, it is a perfect cube in nature, ”Ansorena explained to SER chain.

In Navajún, a small town in the region, which According to the census, it has only 11 inhabitants -Ansorena reveals that they actually live 3- all are dedicated to pyrites. But the activity is located abroad: 70% of pyrite collectors come from the United States.

“For all collectors who appreciate each other, what interests them the most is being able to dispose of the mineral themselves, to be able to work with it. We immediately thought that it was a good idea for these collectors to come to the mine to obtain their pyrites in a completely artisanal way, ”explained Ansorena, also enthusiastic about the increase in tourism.

Extraction is manual, so each of these cubes must be removed from the mountains they are in with delicate hammer blows, that they try not to break the piece that arises naturally perfect. Too much can lower the value.

In Amazon, A pack of 250 grams of cubic pyrites is available for 20 euros.