Wikipedia

Cassiterite: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Etymology: put punctuation before tags
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
→‎Crystallography: use convert template
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit Android app edit
 
(27 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown)
Line 9:
| caption = Cassiterite with [[muscovite]], from Xuebaoding, Huya, Pingwu, Mianyang, Sichuan, China (size: 100 x 95 mm, 1128 g)
| formula = SnO<sub>2</sub>
| IMAsymbol=Cst<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}</ref>
| molweight =
| strunz = 4.DB.05
Line 36 ⟶ 37:
| diaphaneity = Transparent when light colored, dark material nearly opaque; commonly zoned
| other =
| references = <ref>[https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Cassiterite Mineralienatlas]</ref><ref name=Handbook>[{{cite web |last1=Anthony |first1=John W. |last2=Bideaux |first2=Richard A. |last3=Bladh |first3=Kenneth W. |last4=Nichols |first4=Monte C. |title=Cassiterite |url=http://rruffwww.geohandbookofmineralogy.arizona.edu/docliborg/hompdfs/cassiterite.pdf |website=Handbook of Mineralogy] |publisher=Mineral Data Publishing |access-date=19 June 2022 |date=2005}}</ref><ref name=Mindat>[http://www.{{mindat.org/min-|id=917.html Mindat]|title=Cassiterite}}</ref><ref name=Webmin>[http://webmineral.com/data/Cassiterite.shtml Webmineral]</ref><ref name=Klein>{{cite book |lastlast1=Hurlbut |firstfirst1=Cornelius S. |last2=Klein |first2=Cornelis |year=1985 |title=Manual of Mineralogy |edition=20th |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/manualofmineralo00klei/page/306 306–307] |isbn=0-471-80580-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/manualofmineralo00klei/page/306 }}</ref>
}}
'''Cassiterite''' is a [[tin]] [[oxide mineral]], [[tin dioxide|SnO<sub>2</sub>]]. It is generally [[Opacity (optics)|opaque]], but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its [[Lustre (mineralogy)|luster]] and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite was the chief tin [[ore]] throughout [[Tin sources and trade in ancient times|ancient history]] and remains the most important source of tin today.
 
==Occurrence==
[[File:Cassiterite.jpg|thumb|left|Cassiterite [[bipyramids]], edge length ca. {{circa|30 mm}}, [[Sichuan]], China]]
[[Image:Cassiterite - Blue Tier tinfield, Tasmania, Australia.jpg|thumb|left|Close up of cassiterite crystals, Blue Tier tinfield, [[Tasmania]], Australia]]▼
Most sources of cassiterite today are found in [[alluvium|alluvial]] or [[placer mining|placer]] deposits containing the resistant weathered grains. The best sources of primary cassiterite are found in the tin mines of [[Bolivia]], where it is found in [[hydrothermal]] veins. [[Rwanda]] has a nascent cassiterite mining industry. Fighting over cassiterite deposits (particularly in [[Walikale]]) is a major cause of the conflict waged in eastern parts of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/01/2061627-mining-for-minerals-fuels-congo-conflict|title=Mining for minerals fuels Congo conflict |last=Watt |first=Louise |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=2008-11-01 |access-date=2009-09-03|work=Yahoo News! |publisher=[[Yahoo!|Yahoo! Inc]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news▼
 
▲Most sources of cassiterite today are found in [[alluvium|alluvial]] or [[placer mining|placer]] deposits containing the weathering-resistant weathered grains. The best sources of primary cassiterite are found in the tin mines of [[Bolivia]], where it is found in crystallised [[hydrothermal]] veins. [[Rwanda]] has a nascent cassiterite mining industry. Fighting over cassiterite deposits (particularly in [[Walikale]]) is a major cause of the conflict waged in eastern parts of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/01/2061627-mining-for-minerals-fuels-congo-conflict|title=Mining for minerals fuels Congo conflict |last=Watt |first=Louise |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=2008-11-01 |access-date=2009-09-03|work=Yahoo! News! |publisher=[[Yahoo!|Yahoo! Inc]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| last = Polgreen
| first = Lydia
Line 51 ⟶ 54:
| access-date = 2008-11-16}}</ref> This has led to cassiterite being considered a [[conflict mineral]].
 
Cassiterite is a widespread minor constituent of [[igneous rocks]]. The Bolivian veins and the old4500 exhaustedyear old workings of [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]], [[England]], are concentrated in high temperature [[quartz]] veins and [[pegmatite]]s associated with [[granite|granitic]] [[Intrusive rock|intrusive]]s. The veins commonly contain [[tourmaline]], [[topaz]], [[fluorite]], [[apatite]], [[wolframite]], [[molybdenite]], and [[arsenopyrite]]. The mineral occurs extensively in [[Cornwall]] as surface deposits on [[Bodmin Moor]], for example, where there are extensive traces of a hydraulic mining method known as ''streaming''. The current major tin production comes from placer or alluvial deposits in [[Malaysia]], [[Thailand]], [[Indonesia]], the [[Maakhir]] region of [[Somalia]], and [[Russia]]. [[Hydraulic mining]] methods are used to concentrate mined ore, a process which relies on the high [[specific gravity]] of the SnO<sub>2</sub> ore, of about 7.0.
 
==Crystallography==
Line 60 ⟶ 63:
Cassiterite is also used as a [[gemstone]] and collector specimens when quality crystals are found.
 
[[File:Cassiterite-43265.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Stalactitic-botryoidal, banded, "wood tin" cassiterite, {{cvt|5.0 |x |4.9 |x |3.3 |cm}}, [[Durango]], Mexico]]
▲[[Image:Cassiterite - Blue Tier tinfield, Tasmania, Australia.jpg|thumb|Close up of cassiterite crystals, Blue Tier tinfield, [[Tasmania]], Australia]]
 
==Etymology==
The name derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''kassiteros'' for "tin": this comes from the [[Phoenician languages|Phoenician]] word ''Cassiterid'' referring to the islands of [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain]],{{Citation neededcn|date=August 2020|reason=That 'cassiterid' refers to Great Britain and Ireland isOctober disputed.2022}} 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]].
 
{{clear}}
 
== Use ==
It may be primary used as a raw material for [[tin]] extraction and smelting.
 
==References==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiterite"