Technology for Production of Tungsten Metal Powder from Plant Tailings/ Waste Sample

Tungsten is a strategic metal and has critical applications in defense, mining and other sectors. Indian tungsten demand is mostly met through imports. Chinese monopoly in global tungsten supply, fluctuating international prices places us in situation where development of indigenous technology for production of tungsten from domestically available resources (lean grade ores/ tungsten-containing mine/plant waste) becomes imperative.  

The technology will be useful for the production of tungsten metal powder from industrial waste with low tungsten concentration/lean grade ores. Based on the characterization, laboratory, and pilot-scale studies technology was developed for the production of tungsten metal powder from plant tailings/rejects with an extremely low concentration of tungsten (0.02 WO₃). The important technical features are the followings:

• A novel route for beneficiating extremely fine-grained and low tungsten assaying plant tailings/waste material to a product suitable for the extraction of tungsten.
• Hydrometallurgical extraction of tungsten from pre-concentrate involving alkali leaching, solvent extraction & crystallization of ammonia para-tungstate (APT).
• Production of high purity (99.9%) tungsten metal powder from a high-temperature reduction of APT.

• Equipment used in the developed process is easy to operate.
• Chemicals such as Alamin-336, Iso-decanol, and Kerosene will be recycled in the process