- Tungsten: resource distribution and production
- The content of tungsten in the Earth's crust is 0.007%. According to the data released by USGS in 2014, global tungsten reserves are around 3.5 million tonnes. About two-thirds of the world's tungsten resources are in the form of scheelite, and one-third are in wolframite-group minerals. The tungsten resources distribution in the world is as follows:
- Area distribution
- The tungsten resources in the world are mainly distributed in the areas that are close to the orogenic belts, for example, in the Alpine-Himalayan and circum-Pacific belts. Specifically, major tungsten deposits have been found in the fold belts of the Far East (South China, Thailand, Burma, South Korea and Japan), the Asiatic part of the former Soviet Union (southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the Caucasus), the eastern costal fold belt of Australia and the Alpine fold belt from France to Turkey. The western Cordilleras of the Americas (The Rockies and Andes), which are part of the Circum-pacific belt, contain several important deposits in Canada, USA, Bolivia and Peru. In Western Europe, the Variscan belt that arcs from Germany and the Czech Republic through France and south-west England and into Spain and Portugal also has some important tungsten deposits.
- Country Distribution
- According to the data released by USGS in 2014, world tungsten reserves are round 3.5 million tonnes. Tungsten resources are concentrated in China (1,900,000 metric tonnes), Canada (290,000 metric tonnes), Russia (250,000 metric tonnes), United States (140,000 metric tonnes), Bolivia (53,000 tonnes), Austria (10,000 metric tonnes) and Portugal (4,200 metric tonnes).
- According to USGS, world tungsten mine production was estimated to be 71,000 tonnes in 2013. China was the largest producer in 2013, followed by Russia and Canada. The top three countries accounted for 91% of the total production in 2013. Other major producing countries include Bolivia, Austria and Portugal.
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