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Dany Mabillard
Joined: 01 Jul 2019
Posts: 360
Location: Valais
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 Posted: Jun 28, 2025 10:56 Post subject: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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Sold as a new find. I have some doubts about the authenticity.
| Mineral: | Pyrite |
| Locality: | | Verzino, Crotone Province, Calabria, Italy |  |
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| Dimensions: | 64 mm x 54 mm x 34 mm |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 5076
Location: Barcelona
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| Posted: Jul 06, 2025 06:05 Post subject: Re: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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| Dany Mabillard wrote: |
Sold as a new find. I have some doubts about the authenticity.
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Hi Dany,
I haven't found any reference to these pyrite 'balls' from Verzino, but it's perfectly possible that they come from there, since it's a sedimentary area.
Given the uncertainty, I've moved it here to see if anyone has any information about this possible new find.
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Dany Mabillard
Joined: 01 Jul 2019
Posts: 360
Location: Valais
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| Posted: Jul 06, 2025 14:50 Post subject: Re: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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Hello Jordi.
Thank you. For my part, I'm also trying to find more information. I know they had some specimens at the Florence mineral show. On the Swiss auction site, there are about ten specimens for sale.
I'm not sure if it's a Marcasite or a Pyrite
Best regard and have a nice week.
Dany.
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Dany Mabillard
Joined: 01 Jul 2019
Posts: 360
Location: Valais
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| Posted: Jul 10, 2025 13:46 Post subject: Re: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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The information received from the dealer :
It's a brand new find, it seems to date back to early 2024.
There is no news on Mindat or similar sites either. I will tell you everything what I know and some curiosities.
They were found by a gentleman from Calabria and he sold some of them, then I fell in love with the shapes and picked them all up myself about a year ago.
It is a pity, they were in an unused pasture field and the researcher (known in the Italian mineralogical market, a small seller) was very free in his research. The problem is that the pasture came back into use after a few months and therefore it is no longer possible to find any more.
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James Catmur
Site Admin
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 1479
Location: Cambridge
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Roger Warin
Joined: 23 Jan 2013
Posts: 1242
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| Posted: Jul 12, 2025 00:08 Post subject: Re: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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| I believe that Belgian scientists (Flanders) established long ago that the marcasite balls found at Cap Blanc Nez (France) and the surrounding area are in fact often pyrite.
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Roger Warin
Joined: 23 Jan 2013
Posts: 1242
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| Posted: Jul 12, 2025 00:25 Post subject: Re: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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Curiously, while many of these spheres (Cap Blan Nez) are susceptible to alteration over time, some remain stable under identical storage conditions.
It seems to me that the balls that decompose undergo a redox reaction between the two polymorphs. Those that remain stable may be made of pyrite alone. To be confirmed by Herwig.
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Herwig
Joined: 04 Jan 2016
Posts: 43
Location: Hasselt
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| Posted: Jul 12, 2025 00:49 Post subject: Re: Are there pyrite balls found in Verzino? |
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To confirm what Roger wrote this morning:
The rounded balls that you can find on and near the beach of Cap Blanc Nez (France) were all identified by XRD as pyrite.
See Tambuyser, P. (1976) Morphology of the Pyrite Aggregates from Cap-Blanc-Nez, France. Mineralogical Record, 7(4), 179-181.
Cheers, Herwig
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