Tungsten Ore Concentrate Stones

Tungsten ore

Tungsten ore is a rock from which the element tungsten can be economically extracted. The ore minerals of tungsten include wolframite, scheelite, and ferberite. Tungsten is used for making many alloys.

Tungsten ore deposits are predominantly magmatic or hydrothermal in origin and are associated with felsic igneous intrusions.

Tungsten Production

The world's reserves of tungsten are 3,200,000 tonnes; they are mostly located in China (1,800,000 t), Canada (290,000 t),Russia (160,000 t), Vietnam (95,000 t) and Bolivia. As of 2017, China, Vietnam and Russia are the leading suppliers with 79,000, 7,200 and 3,100 tonnes, respectively. Meanwhile, Vietnam had significantly increased its output in the 2010s, owing to the major optimization of its domestic refining operations, and overtook Russia and Bolivia.

China remains the world's leader not only in production, but also in export and consumption of tungsten products. Tungsten production is gradually increasing outside China because of the rising demand. Meanwhile, its supply by China is strictly regulated by the Chinese Government, which fights illegal mining and excessive pollution originating from mining and refining processes.

There is a large deposit of tungsten ore on the edge of Dartmoor in the United Kingdom, which was exploited during World War I and World War II as the Hemerdon Mine. Following increases in tungsten prices, this mine was reactivated in 2014,but ceased activities in 2018.