Cassiterite

Can you help make this a better article? What good localities have we missed? Can you supply pictures of better specimens than those we show here? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from these localities? Can you supply better geological or historical information on these localities?


Cassiterite
SnO₂ Tetragonal


The mineral name is derived from the term “Cassiterides” which was applied 'islands off the western coast of Europe' in pre-Roman times (the exact location of these 'islands' has been hotly debated over the years, current thought is that the source was probably mainland Spain and that even 2000 years ago, traders had a habit of providing misleading locality information to protect their sources).
Ref: Mindat - [www.mindat.org] I am not sure if Australian cassiterites are extensive enough to warrant their own thread, but if the Cassiterite thread gets to be more than one thread can handle, then we can certainly break it out into its own thread. Also what we talk about here should be information relating to the specimens themselves and things about them that are not commonly found in any text book or in the cassiterite datapage on mindat. Here should go information and observations about cassiterite specimens in general. Some geological and historical information is acceptable, but preferably stuff that is not found in our standard mineralogies like Dana or Strunz and it should come after an overview of cassiterite specimens in general



Cassiterite
Australia
SnO₂ Tetragonal
Here will go a fine picture of a cassiterite specimen from NSW.

The first record of tin mineralisation appears to be by Governor Collins in 1799, when he notes the occurrence of metallic black particles on the beach at Preservation Island in the Furneaux group of islands located between mainland Australia and Tasmania. The host rocks of the Furneaux group of islands are similar to the tin bearing granites of North-eastern Tasmania. The first really economic deposits were those of Mt Bischoff in Northwest Tasmania and New England in NSW, found in the early 1870’s. A number of sub-economic tin deposits have been found throughout Australia that has produced occasional good quality specimens.


Cassiterite
Australia
New South Wales, New South Wales, Elsmore

Cassiterite 5.2cm wide	© Rob Lavinsky

Cassiterite xl. 1.5cm	© Greg Murray

Cassiterite v. wood tin 3.9cm, wide	© Christian Bracke

Elsmore, in the New England area is the home of some of the most spectacular cassiterite specimens in Australia. Tin deposits were first mined in the area around 1871at Elsmore Hill east of Inverell on placer beds. Within 10 years rich lodes were discovered and mining started producing specimens that are so sort after till this day.

Currently occasional small mining operations still produce high quality specimens such as the cassiterite crystals on smokie quartz uncovered in the late 1990s from the Gulf at Emmaville. The Mines and alluvial workings of Emmaville, Elsmore, Torrington and Glen Innes have produced very attractive clusters, single crystals that are much sort after by collectors.

Ardlethan, Bourke Co., New South Wales, Australia need photos.


Cassiterite
Australia
New South Wales, Gough Co. Emmaville

cassiterite-replaced fossils - a famous and possibly unique occurrence	© J.Ralph 2008

Cassiterite
Australia
New South Wales, Gough Co. The Gulf


Kathida Mine (Cathida Mine), Emmaville, Gough Co., New South Wales, Australia

© Keith Compton

Glen Innes, Gough Co., New South Wales, Australia


Dutchman's Mine (Dutchmans & Harts; Dutchman's Lode; Dutchmans' vein; Eclipse vein; Broken Hill lode; Porters & Whip), Torrington district, Gough Co., New South Wales, Australia


The Dutchman’s Mine or as some texts refer (Dutchman & Harts) operated on and off from around 1875 through to 1953. The mine has been worked to a depth of around 125 metres.

Xl size: I have seen xls from micro to around 20mm.
Colour: Generally black and having a lustre varying from dull to bright.
Associated Minerals: Quartz (massive to clear xls and smoky Quartz; minor Fluorite; Calcite and Galena. Cassiterite was frequently found at or near Quartz-Chlorite veins.

References:
Metallogenic Study and Mineral Deposit Data Sheets Grafton-Maclean, HF Henley, RE Brown, JW Brownlow, RG Barnes, and WJ Stroud, Geological Survey of New South Wales 2001.
(Info from Keith Compton)


Lady Don Mine, Euriowie, Farnell Co., New South Wales, Australia


I visited this mine in the 1980's and the miner had a big jar full of good cassiterite crystals, but I need to find one still.


Queensland

Lithgow tin workings, Mica Creek, Mount Isa district, Mt Isa - Cloncurry area, Queensland, Australia




Tasmania

Mt Bischoff, Waratah, Waratah district, Tasmania, Australia

© Andrew Tuma

The mine that started the whole Tasmanian West Coast mining situation; the deposit was found in 1871 by “Philosopher “Smith as an orebody that covered an area of a kilometre radius around Mt Bischoff. The deposit is a mix of replacement Precambrian dolomite hosting small cassiterite crystals in a sulphide body. Cassiterite also occurs as small crystals in and on altered quartz porphyry dykes and sills and in quartz veins.


Blue Tier tinfield, Blue Tier district, Tasmania, Australia

© Keith Compton

Anchor Mine, Blue Tier tinfield, Blue Tier district, Tasmania, Australia


This is the centre of a major alluvial tin producing area in north-eastern Tasmania. The vast majority of the cassitierite recovered was from stream beds and deep lead deposits. However small lode deposits were worked providing a limited number of collectable specimens. The largest operation in this area was the Anchor mine, worked spasmodically between the late 1800’s till it was closed around 1990.


Mt Cleveland Sn Mine, Luina, Heazlewood district, Tasmania, Australia

© Andrew tuma

Unless this mine produces better specimens we may not want to include this locality.
It does but I need to find one(R

The Cleveland mine was located some 16 Km west of Waratah, where fine-grained cassiterite is dispersed through a sulphide lode formation. The crystals are small but produce stunning lustrous needle shaped clusters in quartz and mica. This mine produced some of Australia’s best Fluorite specimens.


Oakleigh Ck, (Mt Pelion Mine), Forth River, Northern Tasmania, Australia


Small cassiterite crystals occur mica based host rock, however stunning clusters and single crystals to 100mm occur on large quartz crystals. The mine closed in the late 1970’s and the area was added to an adjacent national park.


Renison Mine, Rosebery district, Tasmania, Australia,


This is one of Tasmania’s longest running and most economically important tin mines. Cassiterite specimens are rare, generally forming as large cassiterite pods and nuggets – up to 1 tonne were found in the early years. This mine is better known for Fluorite, Galena and other mineral specimens.


Shepherd and Murphy Mine, Moina District (Middlesex District), Tasmania, Australia

© Andrew Tuma

A number of mines worked the tin mineralisation of the Dolcoath Granite of the Moina District. The Shepherd and Murphy Mine was the largest of these mines siting on a vein deposit carrying a number of economic minerals, also well known for the fluorite, bismuthinite specimens.


Moina Quarry, (Dolcoath hill Quarry) Moina District, Tasmania, Australia
Unless this quarry produces better specimens we may not want to include this quarry . If these are commonly seen in collections we can put it in, but probably we would only need one of the pictures.

A sandstone quarry located a few Kilometres to the southeast of the Shepard and Murphy mine. Joints and veins carry small topaz, wolframite and quartz crystals with some black, very lustrous cassiterite crystals to 5mm.


Aberfoyle Mine (Aberfoyle Tin Mine; Rossarden Tin Mine), Rossarden district, Tasmania, Australia

© Andrew Tuma

© Vic Cloete

© Andrew Tuma

Some of the world’s largest single crystals, to 50mm+, and world-class clusters of cassiterite were found in the quartz veins of this mine. The deposit is in a greisenised granite and fracture filling in Mathinna Group host rocks. The mine closed in the 1970’s, though occasional small cassiterite specimens are found on the old dumps currently.


Storeys Creek Mine, Rossarden district, Tasmania, Australia

© Keith Compton

An adjoining mine to the Aberfoyle mine; worked more for the wolframite than tin but still produced stunning single crystals and clusters of cassiterite.


References
1. Australian Journal of Mineralogy Vol. 4 No. 2 1998.
2. A Catalogue of the Minerals of Tasmania. Bottrill, R.S. & Baker, W.E. (2008) Bull. 73. Tasmanian Geological Survey

Darra-i-Pech (Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan

Cassiterite xl. (2.5 cm) and columbite (2 cm) with cleavelandite matrix	© 2007, Jesse Fisher

[www.mindat.org]
Intergrown crystals of cassiterite (2.5 cm) and columbite (2 cm) with cleavelandite matrix. Minor muscovite and schorl also present.

Viloco Mine (Araca mine), Loayza Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia




Various texts refer to the "Viloco" or "Araca" Mine and it would appear that the terms are more-or-less interchangeable names for this locality.

This mine is situated in a glacial gorge of the Quimza Cruz range.
The village of Araca is located below the mine.

It is believed that this is the only tin mine in Bolivia that occasionally produces transparent Cassiterite of cutting quality.
The mine is one of the larger currently active tin mines in Bolivia.

Xl size: I have seen Cassiterite xls from here in sizes from micro to 50mm (2". Sinkankas refers to a specimen of Cassiterite found here “measuring 24” by 12” by 8’and weighing 350 pounds, coated with crystals averaging about 1”.
Form: Common as single xls and cyclic twins.
Colour: Colour is generally lustrous dark brown to black. Gemmier xls are somewhat sherry coloured.
Associations: The most common associations appear to be Quartz (generally small to 15mm and transparent), Siderite (often in the habit of micro discs to 5mm)
Quality: Cassiterite specimens from here can be of world class.
Fakes: I have not seen any fakes from here and given the amount of Cassiterite produced it would probably be uneconomic. I have however seen some specimens that have been oiled and thus a little slippery to the touch. I am not sure whether this is part of a cleaning process employed that hadn't been fully removed, but with suitable washing in soapy water the specimens appear to not suffer from such treatment and continue to display the luster for which they are known.

References:
Mineralogy for Amateurs, John Sinkankas p 335.
The Mineralogical Record: 32: 457-482.
Werner, A.B.T., Sinclair, W.D., and Amey, E.B. (1998): International Strategic Mineral Issues Summary Report - Tungsten. US Geological Survey Circular 930-O.
(Info from Keith Compton)

Cassiterite	© Rob Lavinsky

[www.mindat.org]


Huanuni, Dalence Province, Oruro Department, Bolivia

1.7 x 1.5 x 1.1 cm.	© Rob Lavinsky

[www.mindat.org]
1.7 x 1.5 x 1.1 cm.
Huanuni mine, Huanuni, Dalence Province, Oruro Department, Bolivia.

Huanuni Mine is located about 150 miles south of La Paz.
Huanuni is one of the largest and most productive tin mines of the country.




The Huanuni mine is primarily a tin mine, unlike many other Bolivian mines.

Xl size: I have seen xls from micro to around 30mm. Xls are frequently elongated.

Colour: Colour is generally lustrous dark brown to black.

Associations: Include Quartz (xls generally small and transparent), Tourmaline, Rutile and Pyrite and more recently Aheylite and Wavellite.

Quality: I would rate Cassiterite specimens from here as fair but the associations can make them unusual.

References:
(i) Mineralogical Record: 26: 489 (with wavelite, variscite).
(ii) Capriles Villazón, Orlando Historia de la Minería Boliviana (History of Bolivian Mining) (Ed Ramin, 1977)


Potosí Department, Bolivia

2.5 x 5 cm.	© Charles Creekmur

[www.mindat.org]
A 1x2 inch specimen of botryoidal cassiterite of the variety called "wood tin". In the Charles Creekmur collection.
??=Huanuni?

Llallagua, Bustillo Province (Bustillos Province), Potosí Department, Bolivia

3.6 by 3.3 cm	© John Sobolewski

[www.mindat.org]
A 3.6 by 3.3 cms

Alto do Giz pegmatite, Equador, Borborema mineral province, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Region, Brazil

2.6 x 2.1 cm	© 1995-2001 Trinity Mineral Co.

[www.mindat.org]
2.6 x 2.1 cm

Linópolis, Divino das Laranjeiras, Aimorés Pegmatite District, Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil

Cassiterite macle 1.5 cm.	© Martins da Pedra

[www.mindat.org]



Yaogangxian Mine, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

6.2 x 4.6 x 2.6 cm	© Dan Weinrich Minerals

[www.mindat.org]
Six choice black well formed crystals of cassiterite, the largest measuring to 1.4 cm across, are scattered about a mica matrix. Size: 6.2 x 4.6 x 2.6 cm.

Ganzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, China

The stout prismatic crystal has very uncommon transparency and color, in view of its large size. The lengthened habit of the crystal and its position on a matrix of Quartz crystals makes the specimen special from an esthetic point of view.
The sample is from an accredited collection.

7.2 x 5.3 x 3.9	© fabreminerals.com

http://www.mindat.org/photo-73937.html
Specimen size: 7.2 x 5.3 x 3.9


Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China

The Xuebaoding mountain locality is primarily a commercial tungsten and tin deposit and comprises numerous mines.

It should be noted that the two localities listed within Mindat at this locality – namely:
1.Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
and
2.Beryl-Scheelite deposit, Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
produce very similar Cassiterite specimens.

While there may be many mines on Xuebaoding mountain, given the general lack of specific locality information and given the language barriers, I doubt if any reliance can be placed on any definite differentiation of mines here. Cassiterite specimens from here possibly should only be classified as being from Mt Xuebaoding unless perhaps they are know to be from the “Beryl-Scheelite deposit” which is on the south-eastern side of the Mountain.



Cassiterite xls: Much of the Cassiterite from here exhibits glassy jet black complex multiple twinned xls, almost concertinaed in appearance. These complex twins (multiple simple contact twins on {101}) may create relatively large xl groups to 10cm. Some individual xls may be up to 6cm.

Associations: Commonly associated with pale cream to tan coloured bladed Muscovite. Other less common associations include: Beryl, Goshenite, Kesterite, Microcline, Fluorapatite, and Scheelite although these are probably from the Beryl-Scheelite deposit located here.

Quality: I would rate the twinned specimens of Cassiterite from here as the equal of any around the world. Their lustre can be unbeatable.

References:
Hedland, A. (2004): Das Scheelit-Beryll-Kassiterit-Fluorit-Vorkommen von Huya-Zibeisha bei Pingwu, Provinz Sichuan, China. Mineralien Welt 15 (6), 46-57

Cao Zhimin, Zheng Jianbin, Li Youguo, Kabayashi, S., Ren Jianguo, Kaneda, H., Xu Shijin, Shoji, T., and Wang Rucheng (2002): Science in China, Series D (Earth Sciences), 45(8), 719-729.

Yan Liu, Jun Deng, Dai-Sheng Sun, and Ying-Hua Zhou (2007): Morphology and Gensis Typomorphism of Minerals in W-Sn-Be Deposit of Huya, Sichuan. Journal of the China University of Geosciences 32(1), 75-81

Fine Minerals of China – A guide to mineral localities, Guanghua Liu, AAA Minerals AG2006. p 270
Keith Compton

5 x 2.8 x 2.3 cm	© Jiangbin

http://www.mindat.org/photo-149799.html
Multiply twinned crystals of cassiterite on muscovite


Yunlong Sn deposit, Lancang river (Lancang Jiang; Mekong) valley, Yunlong Co., Dali Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China

2.7 x 2.2 x 1.8 cm	© fabreminerals.com

http://www.mindat.org/photo-63284.html
Doubly terminated Cassiterite that is just as nice as the photo suggests. Well placed on a minor Mica-Quartz matrix and pretty gemmy.


Ximeng Co., Pu'er Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China

2.6 by 1.4 cm	© John Sobolewski

http://www.mindat.org/photo-62369.html
A 2.6 by 1.4 cms doubly terminated crystal.

Horní Slavkov (Schlaggenwald), Karlovy Vary Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic

crystals: 20 mm	© 2001 John H. Betts

http://www.mindat.org/photo-1194.html
Beautiful lustrous black metallic cassiterite crystals in unusual peaked formation (result of twinning). Two small white inclusions (albite?) on one face. Ex. A. Stevenson collection #754. Overall size of mineral specimen: 20x15x14 mm. Size of individual crystals: 20 mm.

Cínovec / Zinnwald (Cinvald), Erzgebirge; Krusné Hory Mts, Saxony & Ústí Region (Bohemia; Böhmen; Boehmen), Germany & Czech Republic
[www.mindat.org]
the Zinnwald-Cínovec mining district at the border between Saxony (Germany) and Bohemia (Czech Republic). From there black and deep brown short prismatic xls upo to 5 cm, commonly twinned are known. Pseudomorphs of cassiterite after feldspar are described from there in older literature. There are quartz veins and greisen zones in granite, bearing quartz, zinnwaldite, fluorite, wolframite (mostly ferberite), cassiterite and scheelite.
Sebastian Möller

Krupka (Graupen), Krušné Hory Mts (Erzgebirge), Ústí Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic
[www.mindat.org]
Info??

Miscellaneous German locations:
In the Erzgebirge Mts. there have been many tin mines since the 12th century, especially near Geyer (a big "pinge" (a caldera-like collapse of a mountain due to intensive mining activities, at least cavities of 60x20x20 m and old tin washing near the greifenstein rocks), Ehrenfriedersdorf, Seiffen (the name of the town is due washing tin from the rivers, in old-fashioned Germany called seifen), Altenberg (another collapsed mountain, known for its topaz), Eibenstock,Sadisdorf. Nearly all these localities have also provided cassiterite xls. From Altenberg small xls of needle tin are known. From Steinbis Tunnel, Triberg, Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, built in the 1980'ies, cassiterite xls up to 1 cm have been reported. They are from miarolitic cavities in coarse-grained red granite, associated with quartz, mica and apatite.
Sebastian Möller

Sauberg Mine, Ehrenfriedersdorf, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany

6x4x3 cm	© 2001 John H. Betts

[www.mindat.org]
Large, well crystallized black cassiterite crystals to 2 cm with colorless quartz crystals to 12 mm and small purple cubic fluorite crystals to 4 mm. Thin gray gilbertite (muscovite pseudo.) coat the crystals in the crevices. Ex. Ken Hogan collection. Overall size of mineral specimen: 6x4x3 cm. Size of individual crystals: 1-20 mm.

Santa María del Oro, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

2.8 x 2.1 x 1.9 cm	© Rob Lavinsky

http://www.mindat.org/photo-40678.html
An showy and classic thumbnail of light brown, botryoidal, "wood tin" cassiterite from an UNCOMMON Mexico locality, Santa Maria del Oro. Wood tin is an old-time English term for cassiterite in this form and color. 2.8 x 2.1 x 1.9 cm.

Krantzberg Mine, Omaruru, Damaraland District, Kunene Region, Namibia

Twin Cassiterite crystal with orange/red internal reflections.

3.1cm x 2.3cm x 2.9cm	© Debbie Woolf

http://www.mindat.org/photo-131621.html
Measures 3.1cm x 2.3cm x 2.9cm.

Panasqueira Mines, Panasqueira, Covilhã, Castelo Branco District, Portugal
(Minas da Panasqueira, Panasqueira, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Portugal)
Located in what was known as the Beira Baixa province. Some older texts sometimes refer to this region.

According to Wikepedia, in the early 19th century Beira was divided into three provinces: Beira Alta, Beira Baixa, and Beira Litoral, sometimes collectively referred to as "the Beiras". An administrative reform in 1976 abolished these provinces.

The mine is regarded as the largest quartz-vein type deposit in the Iberian Peninsula. It is primarily a wolfram mine.

© fabreminerals.com

Xl size: I have seen xls from micro to around 40mm.

Colour: Colour is generally lustrous dark brown to black. There is partially translucent piece in the attached photos..

Associations: Commonly include Quartz (I have seen some clear Quartz xls to 6cm in association) and Siderite (often in large tan "discs" to 4cm).

Quality: I would rate Cassiterite from here as generally of average quality. Good quality specimens with both Quartz and large Siderite xls would appear to be relatively rare.

References:
- Mineral. Rec. (1971) 2 (2), 73-78.
- Bull. Minéral., 1988, 111, 251-256
- Bull. Minéral., 1984, 107, 703-713.
Thadeu (D.), 1951. Com. Serv. Geol. Portugal, vol. 32, pp. 1-64.
(from Keith Compton)


Merekski ore District, Burea Massif, Khabarovskiy Kray, Far-Eastern Region, Russia

# cm	© Collectors Edge

http://www.mindat.org/photo-76410.html
A sharp lustrous crystal with the typical locality dark amber color.

Size: 31mm x 43mm x 22mm
Penouta, Viana do Bollo, Ourense, Galicia, Spain
Info?

Poldory Mine, United Mines (Gwennap United Mines), Clifford Amalgamated Mines, Gwennap area, Camborne - Redruth - St Day District, Cornwall, England, UK

crystals to 5mm	© Ian Jones

http://www.mindat.org/photo-12357.html
Exceptionally bright casiterite crystals to 5mm, on a bed of small quartz crystals. Ian Jones collection. Collected in 1990 fron the back of a lode on the Poldory section of the mine, when the ground was being cleared for a landfill site.

North Sugarloaf Mt. locality, Bethlehem, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, USA

Field of view ~ 5 mm	© Scott Whittemore

[www.mindat.org]
Field of view ~ 5 mm


Other Locations?


Ralph Bottrill

Ralph



Edited 19 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2009 08:47AM by Ralph Bottrill.

Copied to main article



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2009 02:28PM by Ralph Bottrill.

Ralph,
It looks like you are having some problems sizing and arranging your images. Do you need some help with this?

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Thanks Andrew for all the photos and Info. I am gradually adding more, and there are a few gaps needing filling still, but its a great start.

Rock, feel free. Its not easy to get them all consistently sized.

Ralph



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2009 01:45PM by Ralph Bottrill.

Hello,

here is another rather curious cassiterite from Australia ..... Best, Joe

[www.mindat.org]

You can say that again Ralph. Fiddling with the pictures is probably the most irksome task here in Best Minerals. Harjo has really gotten the hang of it and is probably better at it than I. If I get desperate Ill ask him to help some too. Just keep plugging away at it, I know you will also get the hang of it.
Rock

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Ralph, I have done a little bit of clean up in the cassiterite article. I noticed you commonly used a width of 320 pixels for the images. Is there a particular reason for this? I have found that 400 pixels is a good average that allows two images to fit on the same line leaving enough room to shrink and expand the images till the are more or less the same height. Did you pick up that bit where Dave also made it possible for us to adjust the height of the images through the height=xxxx. We can choose to use height=xxx or width=xxx to adjust the formatting of the images but it must be one or the other, not both at the same time. When you put another image to right of the one on the left, to get it to look good and leave a spage between pictures you need to change the float=left to float=center. I would also advise that as soon as you place an image into an article by using [ pic id=XXXX width=600 float=left][ /pic] that you immediately put the caption and the size in the caption space rather than wait and do it later. I find that easier to do it that way rather than go back and put the captions later.There is still some cleanup to do on the article plus more construction, but perhaps I have already tinkered with it more than I should have.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Hi Joe
thanks for that one. I have one of these with no location - so now I know!

Ralph

Rock
Thanks again, its getting there. We could cull it a bit. There are 650 cassiterite photos (maybe >50 good locations) so we thought we would start with Australia and see how it goes. Though half are in England. If you think its not too big we could add other countries to this one - let us know.

Ralph

Ralph,

Yes, by all means, take a whack at all cassiterites. If a locality has produced very good specimens of cassiterite I have no objection to including pictures of lesser specimens if that is all we have, but in that case it should be noted that the locality has produce much better specimens but these are the best we have for now and that we encourage people to upload better ones that we will use. Also if a locality has produced large quantities of specimens that are commonly seen in collections and even though these specimens are not very good or well crystallized we should have a picture of one or several for users to compare their specimens to. A good example of this are actinolite specimens from various localities that produce abundant material that shows up in study collections all over the place. Both are good reasons for having localities here in Best Minerals with images.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Hi Ralph

Here is a start for Viloco/Araca

Viloco Mine (Araca mine), Loayza Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia





Various texts refer to the "Viloco" or "Araca" Mine and it would appear that the terms are more-or-less interchangeable names for this locality.

This mine is situated in a glacial gorge of the Quimza Cruz range.
The village of Araca is located below the mine.

It is believed that this is the only tin mine in Bolivia that occasionally produces transparent Cassiterite of cutting quality.
The mine is one of the larger currently active tin mines in Bolivia.

Xl size: I have seen Cassiterite xls from here in sizes from micro to 50mm (2". Sinkankas refers to a specimen of Cassiterite found here “measuring 24” by 12” by 8’and weighing 350 pounds, coated with crystals averaging about 1”.
Form: Common as single xls and cyclic twins.
Colour: Colour is generally lustrous dark brown to black. Gemmier xls are somewhat sherry coloured.
Associations: The most common associations appear to be Quartz (generally small to 15mm and transparent), Siderite (often in the habit of micro discs to 5mm)
Quality: Cassiterite specimens from here can be of world class.
Fakes: I have not seen any fakes from here and given the amount of Cassiterite produced it would probably be uneconomic. I have however seen some specimens that have been oiled and thus a little slippery to the touch. I am not sure whether this is part of a cleaning process employed that hadn't been fully removed, but with suitable washing in soapy water the specimens appear to not suffer from such treatment and continue to display the luster for which they are known.



References:
Mineralogy for Amateurs, John Sinkankas p 335.
The Mineralogical Record: 32: 457-482.
Werner, A.B.T., Sinclair, W.D., and Amey, E.B. (1998): International Strategic Mineral Issues Summary Report - Tungsten. US Geological Survey Circular 930-O.

Cheers Keith

Dutchman's Mine (Dutchmans & Harts; Dutchman's Lode; Dutchmans' vein; Eclipse vein; Broken Hill lode; Porters & Whip), Torrington district, Gough Co., New South Wales, Australia
The Dutchman’s Mine or as some texts refer (Dutchman & Harts) operated on and off from around 1875 through to 1953. The mine has been worked to a depth of around 125 metres.



Xl size: I have seen xls from micro to around 20mm.
Colour: Generally black and having a lustre varying from dull to bright.
Associated Minerals: Quartz (massive to clear xls and smoky Quartz; minor Fluorite; Calcite and Galena. Cassiterite was frequently found at or near Quartz-Chlorite veins.

References:
Metallogenic Study and Mineral Deposit Data Sheets Grafton-Maclean, HF Henley, RE Brown, JW Brownlow, RG Barnes, and WJ Stroud, Geological Survey of New South Wales 2001.

Hi Kieth
this is great info and I have incorporated it all into the article
many thanks,
Ralph

Ralph

Huanuni mine, Huanuni, Dalence Province, Oruro Department, Bolivia.

Huanuni Mine is located about 150 miles south of La Paz.
Huanuni is one of the largest and most productive tin mines of the country.




The Huanuni mine is primarily a tin mine, unlike many other Bolivian mines.

Xl size: I have seen xls from micro to around 30mm. Xls are frequently elongated.

Colour: Colour is generally lustrous dark brown to black.

Associations: Include Quartz (xls generally small and transparent), Tourmaline, Rutile and Pyrite and more recently Aheylite and Wavellite.

Quality: I would rate Cassiterite specimens from here as fair but the associations can make them unusual.

References:
(i) Mineralogical Record: 26: 489 (with wavelite, variscite).
(ii) Capriles Villazón, Orlando Historia de la Minería Boliviana (History of Bolivian Mining) (Ed Ramin, 1977)

Hi Kieth
good work again thanks - I added this to the article too
Ralph

Ralph

Panasqueira Mines, Panasqueira, Covilhã, Castelo Branco District, Portugal
(Minas da Panasqueira, Panasqueira, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Portugal)
Located in what was known as the Beira Baixa province. Some older texts sometimes refer to this region.

According to Wikepedia, in the early 19th century Beira was divided into three provinces: Beira Alta, Beira Baixa, and Beira Litoral, sometimes collectively referred to as "the Beiras". An administrative reform in 1976 abolished these provinces.

The mine is regarded as the largest quartz-vein type deposit in the Iberian Peninsula. It is primarily a wolfram mine.

© fabreminerals.com

Xl size: I have seen xls from micro to around 40mm.

Colour: Colour is generally lustrous dark brown to black. There is partially translucent piece in the attached photos..

Associations: Commonly include Quartz (I have seen some clear Quartz xls to 6cm in association) and Siderite (often in large tan "discs" to 4cm).

Quality: I would rate Cassiterite from here as generally of average quality. Good quality specimens with both Quartz and large Siderite xls would appear to be relatively rare.

References:
- Mineral. Rec. (1971) 2 (2), 73-78.
- Bull. Minéral., 1988, 111, 251-256
- Bull. Minéral., 1984, 107, 703-713.
Thadeu (D.), 1951. Com. Serv. Geol. Portugal, vol. 32, pp. 1-64.

Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China

The Xuebaoding mountain locality is primarily a commercial tungsten and tin deposit and comprises numerous mines.

It should be noted that the two localities listed within Mindat at this locality – namely:
1.Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
and
2.Beryl-Scheelite deposit, Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
produce very similar Cassiterite specimens.

While there may be many mines on Xuebaoding mountain, given the general lack of specific locality information and given the language barriers, I doubt if any reliance can be placed on any definite differentiation of mines here. Cassiterite specimens from here possibly should only be classified as being from Mt Xuebaoding unless perhaps they are know to be from the “Beryl-Scheelite deposit” which is on the south-eastern side of the Mountain.


Cassiterite xls: Much of the Cassiterite from here exhibits glassy jet black complex multiple twinned xls, almost concertinaed in appearance. These complex twins (multiple simple contact twins on {101}) may create relatively large xl groups to 10cm. Some individual xls may be up to 6cm.

Associations: Commonly associated with pale cream to tan coloured bladed Muscovite. Other less common associations include: Beryl, Goshenite, Kesterite, Microcline, Fluorapatite, and Scheelite although these are probably from the Beryl-Scheelite deposit located here.

Quality: I would rate the twinned specimens of Cassiterite from here as the equal of any around the world. Their lustre can be unbeatable.

References:
Hedland, A. (2004): Das Scheelit-Beryll-Kassiterit-Fluorit-Vorkommen von Huya-Zibeisha bei Pingwu, Provinz Sichuan, China. Mineralien Welt 15 (6), 46-57

Cao Zhimin, Zheng Jianbin, Li Youguo, Kabayashi, S., Ren Jianguo, Kaneda, H., Xu Shijin, Shoji, T., and Wang Rucheng (2002): Science in China, Series D (Earth Sciences), 45(8), 719-729.

Yan Liu, Jun Deng, Dai-Sheng Sun, and Ying-Hua Zhou (2007): Morphology and Gensis Typomorphism of Minerals in W-Sn-Be Deposit of Huya, Sichuan. Journal of the China University of Geosciences 32(1), 75-81

Fine Minerals of China – A guide to mineral localities, Guanghua Liu, AAA Minerals AG2006. p 270



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2009 04:36AM by Keith Compton.

Beryl-Scheelite deposit, Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China

The Xuebaoding mountain locality is primarily a commercial tungsten and tin deposit and comprises numerous mines.

It should be noted that the two localities listed within Mindat at this locality – namely:
1.Beryl-Scheelite deposit, Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
and
2.Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
produce very similar Cassiterite specimens

Cassiterite specimens from here possibly should only be classified as being from Mt Xuebaoding unless it is definitely known as being from the “Beryl-Scheelite deposit” which is on the south-eastern side of the Mountain.



Cassiterite xls: Much of the Cassiterite from here exhibits glassy jet black complex multiple twinned xls, almost concertinaed in appearance. These twin xl groups (multiple simple contact twins on {101}) may create relatively large xl groups to 8cm.

Associations: Commonly associated with pale cream to tan coloured bladed Muscovite. Other less common associations include: Beryl, Goshenite, Kesterite, Microcline, Fluorapatite, and Scheelite.

Quality: I would rate the Cassiterite twins from here and Mt Xuebaoding as the equal of any around the world. Their lustre can be unbeatable.

References:
Hedland, A. (2004): Das Scheelit-Beryll-Kassiterit-Fluorit-Vorkommen von Huya-Zibeisha bei Pingwu, Provinz Sichuan, China. Mineralien Welt 15 (6), 46-57

Cao Zhimin, Zheng Jianbin, Li Youguo, Kabayashi, S., Ren Jianguo, Kaneda, H., Xu Shijin, Shoji, T., and Wang Rucheng (2002): Science in China, Series D (Earth Sciences), 45(8), 719-729.

Yan Liu, Jun Deng, Dai-Sheng Sun, and Ying-Hua Zhou (2007): Morphology and Gensis Typomorphism of Minerals in W-Sn-Be Deposit of Huya, Sichuan. Journal of the China University of Geosciences 32(1), 75-81

Fine Minerals of China – A guide to mineral localities, Guanghua Liu, AAA Minerals AG2006. p 270



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2009 04:38AM by Keith Compton.

Hello,

You can add the Zinnwald-Cínovec mining district at the border between Saxony (Germany) and Bohemia (Czech Republic). From there black and deep brown short prismatic xls upo to 5 cm, commonly twinned are known. Pseudomorphs of cassiterite after feldspar are described from there in older literature. There are quartz veins and greisen zones in granite, bearing quartz, zinnwaldite, fluorite, wolframite (mostly ferberite), cassiterite and scheelite.

Another famous liocality in that area, only about 15 km SE of Cínovec in northern bohemia is Krupka (Graupen).

In the Erzgebirge Mts. there have been many tin mines since the 12th century, especially near Geyer (a big "pinge" (a caldera-like collapse of a mountain due to intensive mining activities, at least cavities of 60x20x20 m and old tin washing near the greifenstein rocks), Ehrenfriedersdorf, Seiffen (the name of the town is due washing tin from the rivers, in old-fashioned Germany called seifen), Altenberg (another collapsed mountain, known for its topaz), Eibenstock,Sadisdorf. Nearly all these localities have also provided cassiterite xls. From Altenberg small xls of needle tin are known.

From Steinbis Tunnel, Triberg, Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, built in the 1980'ies, cassiterite xls up to 1 cm have been reported. They are from miarolitic cavities in coarse-grained red granite, associated with quartz, mica and apatite.

Regards,
Sebastian Möller

"While there may be many mines on Xuebaoding mountain, given the general lack of specific locality information and given the language barriers, I doubt if any reliance can be placed on any definite differentiation of mines here. I would suggest that any Cassiterite specimens from here should only be classified as being from Mt Xuebaoding.

I suggest that the only reason that a separate locality of “Beryl-Scheelite deposit” is due to a few publications that have referred generally to the Xuebaoding Beryl-Scheelite Vein Deposit which is on the south-eastern side of the Mountain."


No.

One reason for listing the beryl-scheelite deposit separately is that there is a manganese deposit nearby (more precisely, near Huya village, which also gives its name to the beryl-scheelite deposit) which is well documented in several papers. That is, we have two localities with very different mineralization to list for Mount Xuebaoding. It would not make much sense to lump them.
Second, you really should read the papers you refer to. These papers do not "generally refer to a beryl-scheelite vein deposit on the south-eastern side of the mountain" (what is referred to as a mountain here is actually a massif with a diameter of more than 60 kms which occupies a major part of two counties), but they specifically refer to the same beryl-scheelite vein deposit near Huya village. There are either maps or detailed locality descriptions given in the respective papers. The authors of the article from Science in China also cite other papers and clearly state that it is the same deposit they're dealing with. Thus, we have one well-documented deposit which deserves an individual appearance in the database. Moreover, the Mineralienwelt article (and also one of the Ottens articles for the Mineralogical Record) confirm that most of the material on the mineral market comes from this particular deposit (compare the locality descriptions with the scientific papers !). Ottens has visited many Chinese localities himself and usually gives useful descriptions of the minerals found there.

I agree that we can't know for sure whether there are other localities around, but for this case we still have Mount Xuebaoding a as a generic loclity.


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"Quality: I would rate the complex twin specimens of Cassiterite from Mt Xuebaoding as the equal of any around the world. Their lustre can be unbeatable."

Actually, the twins from Mount Xuebaoding are typically simple contact twins on {101}. The deposits on the Czech and German sides of the Erzgebirge have produced comparable specimens, among them crystals with really complex twins in a large variety of habits, and this also holds for Slavkov (lustrous twins to over 4 cms !) and many Cornish localities. For instance, Wheal Kitty and other mines in the St Agnes district produced specimens with lustrous, brown-red twins that could be fully transparent (depending on the size). Of course, all these specimens are old-timers; they were never produced in large quantities (old mines worked centuries ago being much smaller than the operations of today), are rarely seen on the market, and often are exceedingly expensive. In this respect, I agree that Mount Xuebaoding is presently the most important locality to produce fairly large numbers of high-quality specimens at affordable prices. In quality, however, there are many others to compete with.