Tin

tin

cassiterite

franckeite

jeanbandyite

Images

Formula: Sn
Native element
Crystal system: Tetragonal
Specific gravity: 7.31
Hardness: 1½ to 2
Streak: Grey-white
Colour: Tin-white
Solubility: Dissolves in acids and bases.
Abundance: Earth’s crust: 2.3 parts per million by weight, 0.4 parts per million by moles. Solar system: 9 parts per billion by weight, 0.1 parts per billion by moles (ChC)
Melting point: 231.928^oC
Boiling point: 2620^oC
Environments

Placer deposits rarely

Native tin occurs rarely as greyish metallic grains and nuggets to 1 cm in some placers, kimberlite pipes or seafloor spreading zones (Mindat, HOM).
In compounds tin is usually divalent, Sn²⁺ or tetravalent Sn⁴⁺ (ChC).
Associated minerals include platinum, gold, copper, sorosite and cassiterite (HOM).

Localities

At Oued Berkou, Algeria, native tin occurs in greisen (Dana).

At Oban, Australia, native tin occurs in placer sands (Dana, Webmin).

At the Nesbitt LaBine Uranium mine, Beaverlodge Lake area, Saskatchewan, Canada, pitchblende occurs in fractures cross-cutting a slatey formation. Certain parts of the fractures are heavily mineralised with calcite, hematite and pitchblende. Associated with the pitchblende are pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, covellite, sphalerite, galena and native tin. Samples from three separate veins on the first level and from one vein on the second level of the mine are highly unusual in that they contain native tin (AM 39.529-531).

Tin-bearing minerals include:

Back to Minerals