Cassiterite Specimen Crystal Russia Transbaikalia

$56.00

Out of stock

Description

CASSITERITE SPECIMEN

This is the honey-brown cassiterite specimen. Dimensions: 0.9 x 0.8 x 0.5″ (2.3 x 2 x 1.3cm). Weight – 0.7oz (19 grams). Origin: Russia, Transbaikalia.

Some information about cassiterite:

Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite has been the chief tin ore throughout ancient history and remains the most important source of tin today.

Crystal twinning is common in cassiterite and most aggregate specimens show crystal twins. The typical twin is bent at a near-60-degree angle, forming an «elbow twin». Botryoidal or reniform cassiterite is called wood tin.

The name derives from the Greek kassiteros for «tin»—or from the Phoenician word Cassiterid referring to the islands of Ireland and Britain, the ancient sources of tin—or, as Roman Ghirshman (1954) suggests, from the region of the Kassites, an ancient people in west and central Iran.

Most sources of cassiterite today are found in alluvial or placer deposits containing the resistant weathered grains. The current major tin production comes from placer or alluvial deposits in Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Maakhir region of Somalia. Russian cassiterite deposits located in the North-East, Primorski Krai, Yakutia, Transbaikalia.

Additional information

Weight 19 g