Gilpin observer., 1916-05-04
IMPORTANCE or TUNGSTEN
mining Amertcan).

Mining American).
The word tungsten is Swedish. and
means heavy etone." very apt IL
tie tor q metal whose identity re
mained a mystery until the latter par
of the eighteenth century.
Tunge. zen is a word OF almost mag
10 sound; it means as much to the
miner OF today as did gold to the
"norty-niners." A few years ago ID
was extracted by the gold miners Of
Boulder county. Co'oradO, and was
avoided whenever possible because Il
lowered the value OF their concen
trates. In this respect its history re
sembles that OF two other metals
in the great Com stock lode OF Neva
da, where the early miners threw
away the black sulph.de Of silver
worth several :hc cusand dollars pei
ton; and at LeadviEe while the camq
was getting its s'art and the lead
carbonates caused the placer miners
great deal OF trouble filling up the
rifles in the sluice boxes and inter
fering with tie saving of the gold
Silver made millions for the Com
stock miners, lead carbonates with
their contents did the same for Lead
willie, and tungsten bids fair to dc
likewise for its producers.
u>sia, ,S,,n 1kr ~ fLy stcT
are, scheeiite. wolfamite, ferberite
and hubnerite.
Place some CT the finely ground
ore in a porcelain dish or test-tube
with mixture OF four parts Of hy
drochloric acid and one part nitric
acid and boil twenty minutes. II
there Is tungsten pres ent, the vel
low powder of tungsten trioxide Will
appear and, by adding a piece of tin
or zinc and heating, the solution will
turn blue.
Or, mix some Ct the Underground
ore with ten tin es its Volume OF
sodium carbonate Common cooking
soda) and heat strongly in an iron
spoon or crucib'e until thoroughly
fused. Crush the fused mass, boi
strongly in a small quantity Of water
until we'll dissolved and filter. Divide
the solution into two equal parts. add
ing concentrated hydTochlpric acid in
excess to both. Boil the first portion
a few minutes and add zinc or tin. "A
blue color which with continued boil
ing turns to brown indicates tung
stem. Boil the second part for sever
al minutes. If a yellow powder ap
pears, filter and wesh the residue
with water. Add strorg ammonia to
1t, and II the yellow powder be dis
solved, it Is tungsten trioxide.
II tungsten is still suspected of be
ing in the ore but is not indicated
by the above tests, crush larger
quantity OF the ore to fine state
concentrate by psnrirg and ssm;larl,
test the concentrate.
The smetal is pra tically insolublt
in all the common salts. Its melting
point is 3,117 degrees c, the lrighes
OF the known meas. 1t is not af
fected by the atmos 9here. Its ten
sile strength exceeds that Of iron ol
nickel and II is % dmctile that Il
can be drawn to smaller size wire.
than can any other known metal, a
the same time retaining its remark
able strength ard p'iab lty.
Its largest uses "a. present are Il
tool-steel. lining mghpowered guns
and canncns, hardening armor- plate
and the points OF armor-piercirt
shells. It is sa d that one metal-cut
ting machine ecu p ed with tungsten
steel can do the work CT five ma
chimes equipped with carbon-stee
tools. As steel alloy, tungsten /!
added in varying cuantiti. s; for saw
blades, l per cent to per cent; fol
high speed tools, Used in workin.
metals, from 16 to 20 per cent. Tung
stem steel drills, by holding thei
temper VIXEN red h. I, can be run a
many times gree ter speed than car
bon-steel drills and, therefore, theil
use results in Il 'arge saving of labo
costs. Tungsten steel is self-harden
ing.
1 h., Il