Cassiterite
Species
Uncommon · SnO₂
Tin oxide and the primary ore of tin. Forms in granitic pegmatites and high-temperature hydrothermal veins. Its exceptional density causes it to concentrate in alluvial placer deposits where it has been mined since the Bronze Age.
Identity
- Formula
- SnO₂
- Chemical class
- Oxide
- Mineral group
- Pyrolusite, Rutile
- Also known as
- Tin stone, Stream tin
- Ore of
- Tin
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Habits
- Prismatic, Massive, Nodular
- Fracture
- Subconchoidal
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5
- Density
- 7.01 g/cm³
- Luster
- Adamantine, Metallic
- Colors
- black, brown, reddish brown, yellow, colorless
- Streak
- white to pale brown
- Transparency
- Transparent, Translucent, Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Igneous, Hydrothermal
- Host rocks
- Granite
- Associated minerals
- Quartz, Tourmaline, Wolframite, Arsenopyrite
- Found in
- Hydrothermal vein (lode), Pegmatite deposit, Placer deposit
- Geography
- China, Indonesia, Bolivia, Myanmar, Brazil
Classification
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Gem quality
- No
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Cassiterite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Cassiterite. Gemdat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
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