Tungsten APEX Mineral

Tungsten (W #74)(Swedish: Wolfram) is the next element on the periodic table for my APEX mineral collection.  

Wikipedia Tungsten
Tungsten Minerals - There are many minerals with Tungsten.

Wolframite ((Fe,Mn)WO4) (Iron Manganese Tungstate) with 61% Tungsten is the obvious APEX mineral.   It contains varying concentrations of Iron and Manganese.

Ferberite (FeWO4) and Huebernite (MnWO4) represent the theoretically pure versions of Wolframite.

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all the elements.  Tungsten has the same density as Gold which makes it difficult to detect Gold covered Tungsten bars.

Tungsten is one of the 5 Refractory metals.  

• Melting point above 2000 °C
• High hardness at room temperature 
• Chemically inert 
• High density
• Powder metallurgy instead of machining to create manufactured parts

Tungsten was unknown until modern times.

Tungsten is primarily used in the production of hard materials based on tungsten carbide, one of the hardest carbides.

Tungsten is the heaviest element known to be used by any living organism.  It is used in the enzymes of a few species of bacteria and archaea.