How to Find Tungsten Ore

Types of Tungsten Deposits

If divided according to the combination of mineral elements, tungsten deposits include W-(Sn, Bi, Mo), W-Be, W-(Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag), W-Nb-Ta, W-Au-Sb, W-Li, W-Cu-Fe, and W-REE types. Industrial types include quartz vein-type wolframite deposits, porphyry-type tungsten ores (fine-vein infiltrated and stockwork types), blast breccia-type tungsten deposits, skarn-type scheelite deposits, layer-controlled multi-causal superposition types, and alluvial types.

Signs for Finding Tungsten Ore

1. Heavy sand measurement: Water-system and soil heavy sand measurement is an effective method because wolframite and scheelite are not easily oxidized and decomposed during weathering and erosion, and are gathered as heavy materials at the bottom of soft sediments or soil.

2. Structural control: Shell-mantle mixed-source veins brought from depth by deep and large fractures can form porphyry-type and breccia-type tungsten ores, while veins from shell-source types form vein-type tungsten ores.

3. Vein zoning: The tungsten-bearing quartz veins in a tungsten mining area are often produced in clusters and bands, and most have the characteristic of equidistant output. According to the horizontal and vertical zoning distribution law of tungsten mineralization and the hydraulic fracture fissure output law, the existence of hidden veins can be accurately predicted.

Alteration Zones and Additional Prospecting Clues

4. Alteration zoning: The internal and external contact zones of granitic rock bodies and the surrounding rocks of the top cover phases, which show greisenization, silicification, potassic alteration, sericitization, fluoritization, and topazization, are good places to search for tungsten ores.

5. Associated deposits: In silica-porphyry-type copper, molybdenum, lead-zinc, rare earth, and niobium-tantalum mining areas, and in similar stratiform-type silica distribution areas, attention should be paid to finding tungsten ore.

6. Fluorescence testing: Because fine-grained scheelite is easy to confuse with quartz, but scheelite fluoresces light blue under ultraviolet light while quartz does not fluoresce, fluorescence irradiation is the most effective and fastest means to distinguish quartz from scheelite.

7. Antimony-gold association: Pay attention to finding tungsten-antimony-gold deposits in antimony-gold construction areas of shallow metamorphic rocks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main deposit types of tungsten? Quartz vein-type wolframite, porphyry-type, breccia-type, skarn-type scheelite, layer-controlled superposition, and alluvial types.

Why is heavy sand measurement effective? Wolframite and scheelite resist weathering and concentrate as heavy materials in sediments.

How do you distinguish scheelite from quartz? Scheelite fluoresces light blue under ultraviolet light; quartz does not fluoresce.

How can hidden tungsten veins be predicted? Tungsten-bearing quartz veins usually occur in clusters and bands with an equidistant output pattern, so the horizontal and vertical zoning of mineralization and the hydraulic fracture fissure law can reveal the existence of hidden veins.

Which rock alterations indicate a tungsten prospect? Greisenization, silicification, potassic alteration, sericitization, fluoritization, and topazization in the internal and external contact zones of granitic bodies are good places to search for tungsten ores.

Where else should tungsten exploration be carried out? In silica-porphyry copper, molybdenum, lead-zinc, rare earth, and niobium-tantalum mining areas, in similar stratiform silica distribution areas, and in antimony-gold construction areas of shallow metamorphic rocks.