Updated 21h ago

Cassiterite

$75.00

Free shipping
Seller offers an extended return window of up to 14 days
Ships from USA

A loose sharply formed semi lustrous black crystal of cassiterite with little attached matrix. Sharply formed and in great condition. Located in the southern portion of Jiangxi Province within the Cathaysian Block, Chongyi County sits in a region famous for extensive Mesozoic granitic intrusions and rich polymetallic vein deposits. Historic and modern tungsten-tin mining operations throughout Ganzhou, including deposits in Chongyi, have targeted hydrothermal quartz veins and greisen zones formed during Jurassic magmatic activity. The heavy tin-oxide mineral cassiterite occurs extensively here as thick dark-brown to black lustrous crystals, often associated with quartz, wolframite, fluorite, and mica. These specimens are highly valued by collectors for their strong adamantine luster, well-defined sharp crystal faces, cyclic twinning, and occasional translucent, reddish-brown gemmy highlights. Recent mining constraints and shifting commercial focus toward large-scale industrial ore processing have made fine matrix specimens from Chongyi increasingly sought after on the global mineral market.