Deposit types/Tungsten, Molybdenum

Tungsten skarn

Scheelite in lime-silicate rock formed where a granite meets limestone.

What it is

Scheelite in lime-silicate rock formed where a granite meets limestone.1

How it forms

Hot fluids from a granitic intrusion react with carbonate rock at its contact, forming calc-silicate minerals (diopside, garnet) and depositing scheelite.1

Host rocks

Tonalite, granodiorite or quartz monzonite against limestone.1

Where it forms

Orogenic belts, syn- to late-orogenic.1

How old

Mainly Mesozoic, but any age1

Mines of this type

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Story cards

Where next

Mines

An example ofSangdongSee Sangdong, an example of this deposit type.1An example ofShizhuyuanSee Shizhuyuan, an example of this deposit type.1

Sources

  1. Mineral Deposit Models (Bulletin 1693, Cox and Singer, eds., 1986) US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Ore sorting by Tomra Sorting GmbH, CC BY-SA 4.0; Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0.