Cassiterite from Ririwai Mines, Doguwa, Kano, Nigeria

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The Ririwai mines at Doguwa in Nigeria were the most important tin mines in the country but had closed by the mid-1980s. Specimens of Cassiterite crystals from there are rarely available for sale except when older collections become available as is the case with this lovely large thumbnail-sized off-matrix crystal aggregate. Infact, it is a twinned crystal, with a really lovely extremely glossy black lustre. There is some wear along the ridges of the crystal but this does not overly detract from its really glossy, bright appearance. The main crystal reaches 2.3 cm across and has a rough fracture surface as its base where it was presumably extracted from matrix. Ex Martin Kershaw Collection, no. 560.