Brief Introduction of Tungsten Ore and Concentrate

As we all know, tungsten carbides are made from tungsten ore. And in this article, you can look through some information about tungsten ore and concentrate. This article will describe the tungsten ores and concentrate on the following aspect:

1. Brief introduction of tungsten ore and concentrate;

2. Different types of tungsten ore and concentrate

3. Application of tungsten ore and concentrate

1. Brief Introduction of tungsten ore and concentrate

The amount of tungsten in the earth's crust is relatively small. As far there are 20 kinds of tungsten minerals discovered, among which only wolframite and scheelite can be smelt. 80% of the global tungsten ore is in China, Russia, Canada, and Vietnam. China holds 82% of the global tungsten.

China tungsten ore has low grade and complex composition. 68.7% of them are scheelite, whose amount was low and whose quality was lower. 20.9% of them are wolframite, whose amount quality was higher. 10.4% are mixed ore, including scheelite, wolframite, and other minerals. It is difficult to depart. After more than one hundred of continuous mining, high-quality wolframite has been exhausted, and the quality of scheelite became lower. In recent years, the price of tungsten ore and concentrate are rising.

2. Different types of tungsten ore and concentrate

Wolframite and scheelite can be made into concentrate by crushing, ball milling, gravity separation, electric separation, magnetic separation, and other processes. The main component of tungsten concentrate is tungsten trioxide.

Wolframite concentrate

Wolframite, also known as (Fe, Mn) WO4, is brown-black, or black. Wolframite concentrate shows a semi-metallic luster and belongs to the monoclinic system. The crystal is often thick with longitudinal striations on it. Wolframite is often symbiotic with quartz veins. According to China's tungsten concentrate standards, wolframite concentrates are divided into wolframite special-I-2, wolframite special-I-1, wolframite grade I, wolframite grade II, and wolframite grade III. 

Scheelite concentrate

Scheelite, also known as CaWO4, contains about 80% WO3, often gray-white, sometimes slightly light yellow, light purple, light brown, and other colors, showing diamond luster or grease luster. It is a tetragonal Crystal system. The crystal form is often biconical, and the aggregates are mostly irregular granular or dense blocks. Scheelite is often symbiotic with molybdenite, galena, and sphalerite. According to my country's tungsten concentrate standard, scheelite concentrate is divided into scheelite-II-2 and scheelite-II-1.

3. Application of tungsten concentrate

Tungsten concentrate is the primary raw material for the production of all tungsten products in the subsequent industrial chain, and its direct products are the main raw materials for tungsten compounds such as ferrotungsten, sodium tungstate, ammonium para tungstate (APT), and ammonium metatungstate (AMT). Tungsten concentrate can be used to manufacture tungsten trioxide (blue oxide, yellow oxide, purple oxide), other intermediate products, and even pigments and pharmaceutical additives, and the most attractive is the continuous evolution and active attempts of precursors such as violet tungsten in the field of new energy batteries.

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