Wolframite Species
- Details
- Category: Tungsten Information
- Published on Monday, 04 January 2016 17:06
In the mineralization, most majority of tungsten forms into oxides (tungstate) , rarely sulfide, no natural tungsten. Currently it’s found only about 20 kinds of tungsten ores and minerals containing tungsten in the crust. Here are the introductions of wolframite species.
Huebnerite:
Huebnerite:
Hübnerite or hubnerite is a mineral consisting of manganese tungsten oxide (chemical formula: MnWO4, it isn't a tungstate). It is the manganese endmember of the manganese - iron wolframite solid solution series. It forms reddish brown to black monoclinic prismatic submetallic crystals. The crystals are typically flattened and occur with fine striations. It has a high specific gravity of 7.15 and a Mohs hardness of 4.5. It is transparent to translucent with perfect cleavage. Refractive index values are nα=2.170 - 2.200, nβ=2.220, and nγ=2.300 - 2.320.
Typical occurrence is in association with high-temperature hydrothermal vein deposits and altered granites with greisen, granite pegmatites and in alluvial deposits. It occurs associated with cassiterite, arsenopyrite, molybdenite, tourmaline, topaz, rhodochrosite and fluorite.
It was first described in 1865 for an occurrence in the Erie and Enterprise veins, Mammoth district, Nye County, Nevada, and named after the German mining engineer and metallurgist, Adolf Hübner from Freiberg, Saxony.

Ferberite:
Ferberite is the iron endmember of the manganese - iron wolframite solid solution series. The manganese endmember is hübnerite. Ferberite is a black monoclinic mineral composed of iron(II) tungstate, FeWO4.
Ferberite and hübnerite often contain both divalent cations of iron and manganese, with wolframite as the intermediate species for which the solid solution series is named.
Ferberite occurs as granular masses and as slender prismatic crystals. It has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 and a specific gravity of 7.4 to 7.5. Ferberite typically occurs in pegmatites, granitic greisens, and high temperature hydrothermal deposits. It is a minor ore of tungsten.
Ferberite was discovered in 1863 in Sierra Almagrera, Spain, and named after the German mineralogist Moritz Rudolph Ferber (1805–1875).

Wolframite:
Wolframite, (Fe,Mn)WO4, is an iron manganese tungstate mineral that is the intermediate between ferberite (Fe2+ rich) and hübnerite (Mn2+ rich). Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ore minerals. Wolframite is found in quartz veins and pegmatites associated with granitic intrusives. Associated minerals include cassiterite, scheelite, bismuth, quartz, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite.
This mineral was historically found in Europe in Bohemia, Saxony, and Cornwall. China reportedly has the world's largest supply of tungsten ore with about 60%. Other producers are Canada, Portugal, Russia, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Rwanda, Bolivia, the United States, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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