Cassiterite

SnO2

These samples of cassiterite are displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Cassiterite is an oxide mineral of tin with the composition SnO2. This sample is about 22 cm wide and it is from Bolivia.

This sample is about 18cm wide and is from Araca, Bolivia.

The shiny black crystals of cassiterite are an ore of tin. Cassiterite has been commonly called tinstone.

This is cassiterite with quartz from Horni Slavkov, Cechy, Czech Republic. It is about 12 cm wide.

This is cassiterite with quartz and muscovite from Panasqueira, Portugal. The sample is about 12 cm wide. The small gray crystals are muscovite.

This sample of cassiterite is about 9x6 cm and it from Horni Slavkov, Cechy, Czech Republic .

This sample from the same location is about 9x5 cm.

These samples of cassiterite have a very different appearance, as if they formed out of a melt. The sample on the left is from Arroya Carrizal, Guanajuato, Mexico and is about 12 cm across. The right sample is from Santin mine, Santa Catalina, Guanajuato, Mexico and is pictured at the same scale.

The sample at right is cassiterite with quartz from Emmaville, New South Wales, Australia. It is about 25cm high. The sample below is cassiterite with lepidolite from Virgem de Lapa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is about 10 cm wide.

Mindat: Cassiterite

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