Tungsten

Slater, D.

Tungsten

Slater, D.. 1973 Tungsten. London, UK, HMSO, 49pp. (Mineral Dossier No. 5)

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Abstract/Summary

Tungsten is a metal of great industrial and strategic importance. It is valued, in particular, for the hardness and wear resistance of its carbide and as an additive in the manufacture of tool steels to which it imparts high temperature hardness and tensile strength. In the United Kingdom, mine production is confined to the South Crofty property in Cornwall where small quantities of tungsten concentrate are recovered as a byproduct of tin mining. Deposits of economic value are likely to be restricted to those areas in south-west England and Cumberland where tungsten mineralisation is already known. Potential, but as yet unproven, or partly proven, resources include those of the Hemerdon Mine in Devon, the South Crofty property in Cornwall and Carrock Mine in Cumberland. The most important world resources of tungsten occur in China, the USA, North Korea, South Korea, Bolivia, Portugal, Australia, Burma and the USSR. The United States General Services Administration stockpile is, and has been, one of the world's major sources of tungsten. China, the USSR and North Korea account for more than 50 per cent of world mine production of tungsten concentrates. United Kingdom requirements are almost entirely imported. Average annual imports during the period 1966-70 amounted to 4,600 tonnes contained tungsten trioxide in concentrate. The net cost to the balance of payments of imported tungsten concentrates (including those of tin-tungsten) averaged £11.8 million per year for the three-year period 1969-71. Tungsten has numerous applications, the most important of which are those in tool steels, tungsten carbide cutting tools, wear resisting parts, thermionic devices, contacts and electric lamp filaments. Molybdenum, a metal with many properties similar to those of tungsten, has succeeded in capturing appreciable parts of the tungsten market which is distinguished by great fluctuations in price arising from uncertainties over the marketing policies ofChina and from the lack of vertical integration in the industry. Methods at present in use for the dressing of tungsten ores are efficient for sand-size fractions but become progressively less satisfactory for recovery at decreasing grain sizes. Work on the electrolytic reduction of fused salts promises some possibility of a direct route from concentrate to metal where the concentrate is substantially free from other metal impurities. Statistics relating to trade, mine production and overall consumption are readily available, but those for consumption in particular and uses are difficult, if not impossible, to acquire. Similarly, figures for the consumption of secondary tungsten in the United Kingdom, whether in scrap tool steel or as tungsten metal or cemented carbide, are not available. Problems of land use which might arise from the mining of tungsten ores are similar to those which result from the working of other non-ferrous metals, notably tin; that is, they are likely to stem from the disposal of comminuted rock waste, the siting of surface plant and, perhaps, open pit extraction. Proposals to mine tungsten ores require planning approval and future operations would have to meet conditions laid down in planning consents.

Item Type:

Publication - Report

Programmes:

BGS Programmes > Economic Minerals

Funders/Sponsors:

Institute of Geological Sciences

Additional Keywords:

Mineral, Tungsten

NORA Subject Terms:

Earth Sciences

Date made live:

28 Jul 2025 15:28 +0 (UTC)