Classification of Tungsten Ores-II

Tungsten ores

Tungsten does not occur naturally in its pure metallic state; rather, it is found in several ores, but only two kinds of tungsten-bearing mineral rocks, called wolframite and scheelite, are mined commercially. Wolframite accounts for about 70% of the total tungsten resources in the world, and scheelite accounts for about 30%.

Scheelite

Scheelite is a calcium tungstate mineral that forms a series with the rarer mineral powellite, which contains molybdenum in place of the tungsten. Colors include golden yellow, brownish green to dark brown, pinkish to reddish gray, orange and colorless. Transparency ranges from translucent to transparent and crystal faces are highly lustrous. Its gravity is high and its hardness is low. It also fluoresces under shortwave ultraviolet.

Scheelite occurs in contact metamorphic skarns, in high-temperature hydrothermal veins and greisens, and less commonly in granite pegmatites. Notable occurrences include Hollinger Mine, Ontario, Canada; Saxony, Germany; Tong Wha, Korea; Sonora, Mexico; Cornwall, England; New South Wales and Queensland, Australia; Mill City, Nevada, Atolia, San Bernardino Co., California, Cochise Co., Arizona, Utah and Colorado, all in the USA; and Jiangxi, Hunan and Yunnan provinces, China.

Scheelite is a subordinate ore of tungsten, with wolframite supplying a greater quantity on a worldwide basis. Scheelite is synthesized via the Czochralski process to produce the material that is used to imitate diamond, as a scintillator, or as a solid state lasing medium.



 

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