Tin mining to trace metal content in the copper ore It was soon discovered that the addition of tin or arsenic to copper increased its hardness and made casting much easier, which revolutionized metal working techniques and brought humanity from the Copper Age or Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age around 3000 BC. Early tin exploitation appears to have been centered on placer deposits of cassiterite. The first evidence of tin use for making bronze appears in the Near East and the Balkans around 3000 BC. It is still unclear where the earliest tin was mined, as tin deposits are very rare and
Nickel Babbitt Babbitts high in tin content, consist of a relatively soft, solid matrix of tin in which are distributed hard copper-tin and tin-antimony cuboids. Babbits are often employed as a thin surface coating to obtain the advantage of their good rubbing characteristics. Nickel Babbitt Babbitt refers to a bearing alloy consisting typically of tin, lead, antimony, and copper. "XXXX Nickel" is a trade name for such an alloy that also contains a small percentage of nickel. Isaac Babbitt was issued the first patent for an alloy that was excellent for making bearings. The word Babbitt has been applied to many alloys