Wyoming Pyrite | Kemmerer Coal Mine

Wyoming Pyrite 

Specimen size: approximately 5.5" length (approx 13cm) 

Weight: 2lb 9oz (5,811.65 carats)

Super special opportunity, these pyrite specimens were collected by the open pit mine workers from the late 70's to early 80's, a true Americana treasure! 

Kemmerer Mine is a coal mine in Wyoming that was originally owned by Chevron Mining but sold to Westmoreland Coal in December 2011. The mine comprises three open-cut pits including "Big Pit", which has been described as "the largest open pit coal mine in the United States." 

Since the construction of the Transcontinental Railway, people flocked to towns like Kemmerer to find work in the coal mines, which boomed the local economy- and eventually busted it too. Kemmerer is best known for four things- Coal, Gas, the J.C.Penny Motherstore, and Green River Formation Fossils. 

Explorer John C. Frémont discovered coal in the area during his second expedition in 1843. The Union Pacific Coal Company opened the first underground mine in 1881 after construction of the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Granger to Oregon.