CassiteriteViloco (sometimes called Araca) for many years has stood as one of the top Cassiterite localities in the world. This mine is still active today and bears the unique distinction of producing the only GEM quality (facet grade) Cassiterites from any mine in Bolivia. Considering the millions of tons of tin ore that Bolivia has yielded, the fact that only one mine ever produced transparent Cassiterite is remarkable. This piece is a superb, highly lustrous,

this is undoubtedly one of the most significant and momentous discoveries ever made at this locality

green color (partially iron-coated)

It’s amazingly well-formed

It’s rare to find a pair of intergrown twins like this from Tasna

Specimen # BOL711B24

Specimen # BOL711B237

sharpness and a slight amount of iridescent Bornite coating a few of the Tetrahedrite faces

This piece is a beautiful bright green hue (some think this may be due to chromium content

The species seen within include termites (Isoptera) and tiny flies (Diptera)

but the greatest aspect of these pieces is two-fold

Bandy described

I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it is unlikely we will ever see these superb Zinkenite specimens from San Jose again