Stannite
Species
Uncommon · Cu₂FeSnS₄
Copper iron tin sulfide, steel grey to iron black, known as bell metal ore for the tin and copper that make bell metal. It occurs in tin-bearing hydrothermal veins beside cassiterite and has been used as an ore of tin: it was first described in 1797 from Wheal Rock in Cornwall, where it may make up an ore, and it is found through the Bolivian tin belt.
Identity
- Formula
- Cu₂FeSnS₄
- Chemical class
- Sulfide
- Also known as
- Bell metal ore
- Ore of
- Tin
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Habits
- Massive, Granular, Octahedral
- Fracture
- Uneven
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 4
- Density
- 4.4 g/cm³
- Luster
- Metallic
- Colors
- steel gray, iron-black
- Streak
- blackish
- Transparency
- Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Hydrothermal
- Host rocks
- Granite
- Associated minerals
- Chalcopyrite, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite, Arsenopyrite, Pyrite, Cassiterite, Wolframite
- Found in
- Hydrothermal vein (lode)
- Geography
- England (Wheal Rock, St. Agnes, Cornwall), Bolivia (Llallagua, Oruro, Cerro Rico), Czech Republic (Cínovec), Australia (Zeehan, Tasmania), China (Yaogangxian, Hunan)
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, Stannite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Stannite. Wikipedia.
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