Where to Find Pyrite in Missouri

Missouri pyrite comes mostly from the Tri-State and Old Lead Belt districts, where it accompanies the galena-sphalerite ores that made the state the largest lead producer in U.S. history. The Picher field crosses the Oklahoma line into Jasper and Newton counties, and the dumps and chat piles around Joplin still carry pyrite crystallized in dolomite vugs, often as bright, undamaged cubes alongside sphalerite. The Old Lead Belt around Bonne Terre and Flat River in St. Francois County produces pyrite as crusts on dolomite and limestone, with the Buick and Brushy Creek mines (Viburnum Trend) adding larger crystals. Cube faces tend to be striated and golden, with minimal tarnish underground.