Early prospectors often confused pyrite (FeS2) with what mineral they were seeking?
Pyrite Cattierite (Co S) and vaesite (Ni S) are similar in their structure and belong also to the pyrite group. Bravoite is a nickel-cobalt bearing variety of pyrite, with > 50% substitution of Ni for Fe within pyrite. Bravoite is not a formally recognised mineral, and is named after Peruvian scientist Jose J. Bravo (1874–1928). It is distinguishable from native gold by its hardness, brittleness and crystal form. Natural gold tends to be anhedral (irregularly shaped), whereas pyrite comes as either cubes or multifaceted crystals. Pyrite can often be distinguished by the striations which, in many cases, can be seen on
Pyrite ; at around "p" is about . A newer commercial use for pyrite is as the cathode material in Energizer brand non-rechargeable lithium batteries. Pyrite is a semiconductor material with a band gap of 0.95 eV. During the early years of the 20th century, pyrite was used as a mineral detector in radio receivers, and is still used by crystal radio hobbyists. Until the vacuum tube matured, the crystal detector was the most sensitive and dependable detector available – with considerable variation between mineral types and even individual samples within a particular type of mineral. Pyrite detectors occupied a midway