Oblique profile view of a heavy black metallic wolframite crystal.
Dark metallic wolframite crystal cluster sitting on a black surface.
High magnification macro shot detailing metallic textures on black wolframite.
Close view of submetallic wolframite faces displaying parallel growth lines.
Wide horizontal view showing stepped parallel growth layers on wolframite.

Wolframite

Wolframite – (Fe,Mn)WO4
Elements: Iron, Manganese, Tungsten, Oxygen
Class: Tungstates – Wolframite group
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Hardness: 4-4.5
Fluorite
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Softer than glass. A steel knife scratches it.
Origin: Altenberg, Sächsische Scheweiz-Osterzgebirge, Saxony – Germany
Did you know?

Wolframite got its name from a grudge. Renaissance tin smelters in Germany found that this mineral ruined their melt, foaming up and swallowing the tin, and they cursed it as the wolf that devours the tin like a wolf devours a sheep. The element tungsten still carries that grudge as its symbol, W, for wolfram.

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