The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite,'s iron sulfide (FeS2). Marcasite's often mistakenly confused with pyrite, but marcasite's lighter and more brittle. Specimens of marcasite often crumble and break up due to the unstable crystal structure, and it's this crystal structure that's the main difference between marcasite and pyrite. Though marcasite has the same chemical formula as pyrite, it crystallizes in a different crystal system, thereby making it a separate mineral. In… (More on Marcasite)