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Name: |
cassiterite |
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Class: |
Oxide/Hydroxides |
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Chemistry: |
SnO2 Tin Oxide |
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Color(s): |
brown to black, rarely reddish, yellow, gray, colorless |
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Hardness: |
7 |
SpecGrav: |
6.8 - 7.1 |
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Fracture: |
conchoidal |
Cleavage: |
uneven |
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Crystal: |
Tetragonal (short columnar or acicular common) |
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Envronment: |
pegmatite veins, deposited from hydrothermal fluids |
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Association: |
quartz, flourite, topaz, wolframite, sphalerite, pyrite |
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Locals: |
| California, Alaska, South Dakota, USA | Bolivia | Mexico | Nigeria| Thailand| Sumatra | |
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Misc: |
Probably from the ancient Phoenician name for the northern Mediterranean Island, the "cassiterides". Tin was mined and imported from these island in ancient times. It has the same structure as rutile (TiO2). |
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Photos |
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1.) Elsmore, New suth Wales, Australia |
3.) Elsmore, New suth Wales, Australia |
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