Distribution of tungsten

Tungsten is a relatively rare element on Earth, with an abundance of only 0.00011% in the Earth's crust. More than 32 tungsten-bearing minerals have been discovered in nature, but only wolframite and scheelite are economically viable for mining. Although global tungsten resources are relatively scarce and deposits are generally small, they are widely distributed globally. The world's tungsten deposits are mainly concentrated in two major metallogenic belts: the Circum-Pacific metallogenic belt and the Alpine-Himalayan metallogenic belt.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, as of the end of 2016, global proven tungsten metal reserves were 3.1 million tons, while global tungsten metal production in 2016 was 86,400 tons. At the current rate of consumption, the static reserve life of global proven tungsten reserves is 36 years.

China, Canada, Vietnam, Russia, and the United Kingdom together account for 77% of the world's tungsten reserves. These five countries are the main tungsten resource countries and producers. However, Canada's only producing tungsten mine ceased production for maintenance at the end of 2015 due to low tungsten prices. In 2016, a new large-scale tungsten deposit was discovered in Fuliang, Jiangxi Province, China, with preliminary exploration indicating tungsten resources of 2.86 million tons (WO3).