Established Production of Tungsten-Trioxide

Established Production of Tungsten Trioxide and Oxidized gold Copper in the Samarkand region, Urgut district, Republic of Uzbekistan.

The geological structure of the site includes sediments of the Lower Devonian – (Madmon Formation) and lower – Middle Devonian with granodiorites of the Chashtepa intrusive. Intrusive formations are represented by porphyry-like biotite granodiorites, covered with limestones, shales, and Quaternary sediments. Ore bodies No. 1, 1a, 2, and 3 located at the site are in the process of assessment and a series of mineralization zones potentially promising for new ore bodies discovery of industrial scale have been identified.

The world’s reserves of tungsten are 3,200,000 tonnes; they are mostly located in China (1,800,000 t), Canada (290,000 t), Russia (160,000 t), Vietnam (95,000 t), and Bolivia. As of 2017, China, Vietnam, and Russia are the leading suppliers with 79,000, 7,200, and 3,100 tonnes, respectively. Canada ceased production in late 2015 due to the closure of its sole tungsten mine. Meanwhile, Vietnam had significantly increased its output in the 2010s, owing to the major optimization of its domestic refining operations, and overtook Russia and Bolivia.

Tungsten is mainly used in the production of hard materials based on tungsten carbide (WC), one of the hardest carbides. WC is an efficient electrical conductor, but W2C is less so. WC is used to make wear-resistant abrasives, and “carbide” cutting tools such as knives, drills, circular saws, dies, milling, and turning tools used by the metalworking, woodworking, mining, petroleum, and construction industries. Carbide tooling is actually a ceramic/metal composite, where metallic cobalt acts as a binding (matrix) material to hold the WC particles in place. This type of industrial use accounts for about 60% of current tungsten consumption.

The jewelry industry makes rings of sintered tungsten carbide, tungsten carbide/metal composites, and also metallic tungsten. WC/metal composite rings use nickel as the metal matrix in place of cobalt because it takes a higher luster when polished. Sometimes manufacturers or retailers refer to tungsten carbide as a metal, but it is a ceramic. Because of tungsten carbide’s hardness, rings made of this material are extremely abrasion resistant and will hold a burnished finish longer than rings made of metallic tungsten. Tungsten carbide rings are brittle, however, and may crack under a sharp blow.

Reserves overview:
– Tungsten trioxide (off-balance)
– 10 915.5 t. with an average grade of 0.67% of Gold
– (С1+С2) – 1.7 t at avg. grade – 1.4 g/t;
As per 01.01.2021

Geological and industrial type:
– Oxidized gold bismuth containing
– Copper-tungsten type

Enrichment technology
– Gravity method
– The cyanide method was used to extract gold