Tungsten Metal (W):  From a mining and metal industry perspective, tungsten falls into a loose grouping of around 20 metals termed the minor metals (the other metal groupings being; the precious metals, the base metals and the platinum group metals (PGMs)).  Tungsten is unique in having a combination of relatively extreme properties compared to other metals; its properties include:

a very high melting point, 3422°C (5700°C, boiling)  -  highest melting point of all metals

a very dense, heavy metal, 19.25 g/cm2

an extremely strong, wear resistant metal; has a hardness close to that of diamonds - highest modulus of elasticity and highest tensile strength of all metals

a thermally and chemically stable metal, with high thermal conductivity - lowest coefficient of expansion of the metals

a high electrical conductivity

a relatively inert metal which does not oxidise readily, is extremely corrosive resistant and relatively acid resistant and is deemed environmentally benign.

Tungsten Uses:  As a consequence of tungsten metal’s properties, tungsten alloys are used in various application areas:

Tungsten, due to its hardness and ability to withstand heat, is very suitable as a critical component of cutting tools used to drill or cut other metals, concrete or rock (e.g. household drill bits, metal fabrication tools, dentists tools, etc..)

These attributes also make tungsten alloys suitable for critical temperature sensitive and wear resistant machinery components (e.g. engine valves, ball-point pen tips, turbine blades, snow tyre studs)

These wear and temperature resistant properties, in combination with tungsten’s electrical conductivity, also make tungsten ideal as a critical temperature resistant component in electronics and as a contact point in electrical circuits (e.g. LCD panels, TV tubes, laser printers, window heating wires, car horns, electrical switch gear)

Tungsten’s high density properties also make it suitable as a weight or counterbalance in specific machinery applications (airplane flaps, mobile phone vibration systems, crankcase balancing weights, golf clubs and as an environmentally acceptable substitute for lead shot in cartridges).

Tungsten is a metal with unique properties making it an essential component in many industrial applications. Critical properties include - very high melting point, very high density, hardness close to diamond, thermally and chemically stable, excellent conductor, and environmentally benign.

Tungsten Minerals: The only two tungsten minerals of any importance are two tungstates or oxides, their relative values being determined by the measure used to determine mine ore grades and mine concentrate grades, i.e. the tungsten trioxide or WO3, content:

Scheelite, a calcium tungsten oxide, CaWO4  -  contains 80.5% WO3

Wolframite, an iron-manganese tungsten oxide, (Fe, Mn)WO4  -  the iron rich variety, called Ferberite, contains 76.3% WO3; the manganese rich variety is termed Hubnerite and contains 76.6% WO3

Tungsten Deposits: Tungsten principally occurs in four main geological settings, as:

Skarn deposits - where granites are intruded into limestones

Vein deposits - in quartz veins adjacent to granites, as a series of larger separate veins

Sheeted vein deposits - as multiple, narrow, closely spaced, quartz veins forming large sheeted vein systems within and adjacent to granites

Pegmatites - very coarse segregations/concentrations of specific minerals at the margins of granites

Metals and Minerals Associated with Tungsten: Tungsten mineralisation is frequently associated with minor quantities of sulphides, usually iron sulphides, but occasionally with economic quantities of copper sulphides; it may also have specific associations with other potentially economic minerals:

Tungsten and tin in vein and sheeted vein deposits

Tungsten and gold in sheeted vein deposits

Tungsten and magnetite in skarn deposits

Tungsten and molybdenum in skarn deposits

Tungsten and lithium, tantalum, niobium and tin in pegmatite deposits

Ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices should begin to rise in 2013, which is noted by Brian Wesson, ceo and president of tungsten junior miner Woulfe Mining.

There has been mounting tension between some sellers in Europe and China, as the only concluded business has been coming into Europe at lower and lower numbers, while Chinese market participants have begun refusing to sell below about $340.00/mtu. APT prices from mainstream website currently stands at $280.00-310.00/mtu, after weeks of almost non-existent trading, in which only small parcels were sold. 
“The long-term price will be about $300.00-330.00/mtu. We will see it getting higher,” Wesson said.
“It backed off mostly because of a bit of softening in China, but everybody believes China will move back into a big growth phase,” he added.
Tungsten prices, in general, have been resilient during the most recent financial crisis, according to Wesson, as the material has remained in relatively high demand from the steelmaking industry.
However, the market has been particularly illiquid in recent months, as buyers hold back on macroeconomic uncertainty, exports from China diminish, and sellers wait for some improvement.
“[China] put an export tax on it and with most business coming out of China, that made it very, very difficult,” Wesson said.
“They’ve been using more and more [APT], and I think they’re going to become a net importer of tungsten. That leaves a big gap in the Western world,” he added.
This gap should be supportive of prices, furthermore, as a lack of supply will allow sellers in Europe to push levels up.
“We still believe the outlook for tungsten is very strong. [There was a report] that gave us a prediction for $390.00/mtu. If you don’t have tungsten, you can’t [replace it],” Wesson said.
“There has been a lot of friction in the market,” he added. “But people still used tungsten when we had the financial crisis and the price was quite steady.”
Wesson is also expecting stimulus in China, coupled with structural issues at tungsten mines, to be supportive of the price.
Furthermore, excluding Woulfe Mining, which will begin production in about 12 months, there is very little new supply coming on-stream.
“There are very few new players [apart from us]. We’re ready to start mining ore – we just need to build the processing plant,” Wesson said.
In the meantime, however, the friction between participants in China and Europe is likely to continue until the first quarter of next year and possibly beyond, as new business has yet to be concluded at levels above Metal Bulletin’s range.