iron pyrites for sparks

[Brocktor]

as there is no flint in wales i want to find some iron pyrites AKA fools gold. i live in the rhondda anyone know a place they can be found or bought? apparently they appear in coal mines so on a coal tip maybe.

 

[Montivagus]

Well in North Wales I find them all the time in slate mines, copper mines and along quartz veins though the biggest I’ve found was only stock cube sized so not very wieldy and they're quite brittle! They also occur frequently in gold mines but they won’t let me in those for some reason.

 

[Graham_S]

i bought a lump from a "natural world" shop.
it just powders when i hit it.
the crystals are sugar grain sized. not even a hint of a spark.
i think i need larger crystals

 

[gregorach]

Sounds like you've got marcasite rather than pyrite then...