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Cassiterite is a mineral that has ornately faceted specimens with high luster. It is generally opaque, but its luster and multiple crystal faces cause a nice sparkle. Cassiterite has been an important tin ore for eons and is still the greatest source of tin today. Twinning is common in cassiterite and most aggregate specimens show crystal twins. The typical twin is bent at a near 60-degree angle, forming an "Elbow Twin". Multiple twinning can continue to bend the crystal around and possibly form a cyclic twin. However, cassiterite does not form this type of twin as often as its mineral cousin, rutile.
SnO2 - Tin Oxide
Class:
Group:
Rutile
Colorless, brown, black
White, grayish, brown
Metallic to adamantine, dull
Transparent to opaque
6.3 - 7.2
6 - 7
Imperfect
Conchoidal to uneven
Dipyramidal and short prismatic crystals, multiple twins, granular, massive
Non-fluorescent
Frequency:
Abundant
Origin:
Magmatic in pegmatites, hydrothermal in high-temperature deposits, metamorphic in placers, together with wolframite, topaz  and other minerals.
Occurence:
Panasqueira, Portugal; Tasmania, Australia; Viloco, Bolivia; Hunan and Yunnan provinces, China.
Application:
Ore of tin and as a mineral speicmen.

 
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