Natural Indian Minerals
Tungsten Ore

Name and composition - Wolframite : (Fe, Mn) WO4; Scheelite: CaWO4.

Physical Properties - Wolframite occurs as chocolate brown to dark grayish black tabular or bladed crystals with shining lusture on cleavage surfaces and dull on other surface. Streak is chocolate brown.

Mode of Occurrence - Vein, chunks, eluvial deposits, stock works.

Uses - It is a metal of strategic importance. It is used in the manufacture of high speed alloy and special steels in electrical appliances. Tungsten is used in machine tools, armour plates and other military equipments. Tungsten carbide, much harder than the hardest steel, is used in making drill bits, cutting tools etc. Tungsten compounds are used in dyes and pigments.

Mineral based Industries – Electric bulbs, alloys, chemicals etc.

Industrial Prospects – Tungesten mining has been stopped due to import, which is cheaper than the indigenous production.


Physical Properties
Hardness
Sp. gr.
Melting point
Boiling point
Density
7 to 7.5
19.22
3422 °C
5930 °C
19.25 g/cm3
Chemical Properties
Oxidation states
Electronegativity
Atomic number
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, −1, −2, −4 ​
Pauling scale: 2.36
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