There are more than ten kinds of main tungsten ores in China, including wolframite (tungstate of manganese and iron) and scheelite (calcium tungstate).
1. Wolframite (FeMn) WO4. The colors include dark gray, light red brown, light brown black, hair brown and iron brown. Semi metallic luster, metallic luster and resin luster. It is usually in the shape of leaf, curved sheet, granular and dense; some monoclinic crystals are also in the shape of thick plate and sharp column, which are often filled in the cracks of granite and its nearby rocks in the form of vein with white quartz. Hardness 5-5.5, specific gravity 7.1-7.5. Stagger fracture. It is brittle and weakly magnetic. Wolframite is the main raw material for tungsten smelting and tungstate production. The traditional process uses alkali fusion.
2. Scheelite CaWO4. The color is gray white, there are also brown, green and light red. Grease luster. It belongs to the orthorhombic system, and forms a double cone-shaped pseudooctahedral or plate-shaped crystal. Sometimes oblique stripes can be seen on the crystal surface, among which the twin crystals are more common. There are also some crystals in the form of crusts, kidneys, grains and dense masses. Hardness 4.5-5; specific gravity 5.9-6.2. Brittle, conchoid or stagger fracture. When irradiated by fluorescent lamp, scheelite can emit beautiful light blue fluorescence. Scheelite minerals are located in Dayu, Xiushui, Rucheng, Anhua, Linwu, Luanchuan, Yunnan, etc. More placers,
The wolframite concentrate or Scheelite Concentrate can be obtained by gravity separation (shaking bed, jig, etc.), flotation, chute, heavy sand washing and other methods.