Cassiterite

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Cassiterite

Cassiterite is a tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
oxide

Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
, SnO₂

Tin dioxide

Tin dioxide is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula SnO2. The mineral form of SnO2 is called cassiterite, and this is the main ore of tin....
. It is generally opaque but is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite is the chief ore

Ore

An ore is a type of Rock that contains minerals such as gemstones and metals that can be extracted through mining and refined for use. Samples of ore in the form of exceptionally beautiful crystals, exotic layering visible when sectioned or polished or metallic presentations such as large nuggets or crystalline formations of metals suc...
of tin today.

Occurrence
Most sources of cassiterite today are found in alluvial

Alluvium

Alluvium is soil or sediments deposited by a river or other running water. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel....
or placer

Placer mining

Placer mining is the mining of Alluvium deposits for minerals. This may be done by Open pit mining or by various forms of tunneling into ancient riverbeds....
deposits containing the resistant weathered grains. The best source of primary cassiterite is the tin mines of Bolivia

Bolivia

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Encyclopedia

Cassiterite is a tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
oxide

Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
mineral

Mineral

Tin dioxide

Ore

Occurrence

Most sources of cassiterite today are found in alluvial

Alluvium

Placer mining

Bolivia

The Republic of Bolivia , named after Sim?n Bol?var, is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west....
, where it is found in hydrothermal veins. Fighting over Cassiterite deposits is a major cause of the conflict waged in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo , is a country in central Africa with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest list of African countries in order of geographical area....
.

Cassiterite is a widespread minor constituent of igneous rocks. The Bolivia veins and the old exhausted workings of Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, England

England

Quartz

Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust . It is made up of a Crystal structure of silica tetrahedra. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale and a density of 2.65 g/cm?....
veins and pegmatite

Pegmatite

Pegmatite is a very coarse-grained igneous rock that has a grain size of 20 mm or more; such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic.Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar and mica; in essence a "granite"....
s associated with granitic

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
intrusives. The veins commonly contain tourmaline

Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a crystal silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is classed as a semi-precious stone and the gem comes in a wide variety of colors....
, topaz

Topaz

Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula aluminium2siliconoxygen42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces, the basal pinacoid often being present....
, fluorite

Fluorite

Fluorite is a mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CalciumFluorine. It is an Cubic mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon....
, apatite

Apatite

Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually referring to hydroxylapatite, fluorapatite, and chlorapatite, named for high concentrations of Hydroxyl−, Fluorine−, or Chlorine− ions, respectively, in the crystal....
, wolframite

Wolframite

Wolframite tungstenoxygen4, is an iron manganese tungstate mineral that is the intermediate between ferberite and h?bnerite . Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ore minerals....
, molybdenite

Molybdenite

Molybdenite is a mineral of molybdenum disulfide, molybdenumsulfur2. Similar in appearance and feel to graphite, molybdenite has a lubricating effect that is a consequence of its layered structure....
, and arsenopyrite

Arsenopyrite

Arsenopyrite is an iron arsenic sulfide . It is a hard metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1....
. The current major tin production comes from placer or alluvial deposits in Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
, Thailand

Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
, Indonesia

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
, and Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
. Hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that employs water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. Previously, the use of a large volume of water had been developed by the Romans to remove overburden and then gold-bearing debris as in Las M?dulas of Spain, and Dolaucothi in Great Britain....
methods are used to concentrate the fine particles of ore.

Crystallography

Crystal twinning

Crystal twinning occurs when two separate crystals share some of the same crystal lattice points in a symmetrical manner. The result is an intergrowth of two separate crystals in a variety of specific configurations....
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.

Cassiterite is also used as a gemstone

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
and collector specimens when quality crystals can be found.

The name derives from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
kassiteros for "tin" - or - from the Phoenician

Phoenician languages

Phoenician was a language originally spoken in the coastal region then called Put in Ancient Egyptian, Canaan in Phoenician, Hebrew language, and Aramaic, and Phoenicia in Greek language and Latin....
word Cassiterid referring to the islands of Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
and Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, the ancient sources of tin - or - as Roman Ghirshman

Roman Ghirshman

Roman Ghirshman was a Ukraine-born France archeology who specialized in ancient Iran.A native of Kharkov, Ghirshman moved to Paris in 1917 to study Archeology and Ancient Languages....
(1954) suggests, from the region of the Kassites

Kassites

The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca....
, an ancient people in west and central Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
.