What Is Tungsten
Concentrate?
Tungsten concentrate is the beneficiated, high-WO₃-content intermediate product produced by separating tungsten-bearing minerals from the surrounding rock matrix through a combination of gravity, magnetic, and flotation techniques. The concentrate — typically 65–72% WO₃ — is the primary traded form of tungsten in the global market, serving as the feedstock for downstream processing to ammonium paratungstate (APT), tungsten metal powder, and ultimately cemented carbide and other tungsten products.
Known by its German name Wolfram (hence the chemical symbol W), tungsten holds a unique position among the elements: it has the highest melting point of any metal (3,422°C), the lowest vapour pressure of any element above 1,650°C, the highest tensile strength of any pure metal, and a density (19.3 g/cm³) approaching that of gold. These extreme properties — hardness, heat resistance, and density — make tungsten indispensable in applications where other materials simply fail.
United Metals sources tungsten concentrates from scheelite and wolframite deposits in Mexico — one of the few Western-hemisphere jurisdictions with active tungsten production — providing customers with a non-Chinese, responsibly sourced alternative in a market where supply chain security has become a strategic priority for manufacturers across defence, aerospace, and automotive sectors.
Two Tungsten Minerals,
One Supply Programme
United Metals' tungsten portfolio spans both primary ore mineral types — each with distinct processing characteristics and end-user suitability.
Scheelite concentrates are produced by gravity concentration and froth flotation with fatty acid and mixed collector circuits. The resulting concentrate requires roasting to remove organic carbon before hydrometallurgical APT digestion.
Processing relies on multi-stage gravity circuits (jigs, spirals, shaking tables) followed by magnetic separation to separate wolframite from sulphide and other gangue minerals. The absence of flotation reagent contamination produces a clean concentrate with minimal penalty elements.
Non-Chinese Origin —
Strategic Supply Security
With China controlling over 80% of global tungsten supply, Western manufacturers across defence, aerospace, cutting tools, and electronics face acute supply chain concentration risk. United Metals' Mexico operations provide a rare non-Chinese, fully transparent origin at a time when critical mineral supply chain security has become a boardroom and government priority across NATO member states, the EU Critical Raw Materials Act jurisdiction, and allied industrial nations.
Our concentrates are produced under full ESG compliance frameworks, with complete chain-of-custody documentation, independent assay verification, and environmental monitoring programmes — meeting the responsible sourcing requirements of ITRI, the RCS standard, and OEM supply chain audit expectations.