A visual summary of the USGS tungsten database: where the
deposits are, which mines produced the metal, how big the remaining
resources are — and how a century of American tungsten mining rose and
faded. All values in metric tons of contained elemental tungsten (W)
unless noted.
183
Mapped features · 12 states
145.5k t
Metric tons W produced (reported)
817.5k t
Metric tons W in resources
42
Peak active mines (1943)
01Where it is
Features by State
Count of mapped features per state, split by feature
group. Nevada alone holds 30% of the national total.
Units: number of features.
Mineral occurrence
Mine feature
Mineral region
Segment labels & bar totals = features
02The workhorses
Top Tungsten Producers
Cumulative reported production by mine feature, with the
last reported production year. Pine Creek outproduced the next four mines
combined. Units: metric tons W.
Bar-end labels: production, t W · last year reported
03Still in the ground
Largest Reported Resources
Top deposits by largest reported resource (all classes;
classes may overlap between records). Units: metric tons W.
Bar-end labels: resource, t W · reported class
04How it formed
Deposit Models
Features assigned to each mineral deposit model.
Skarn and vein systems dominate American tungsten. Units: features
classified (of 85 total).
05Textures
Mineralization Styles
Reported styles of mineralization across mineral
occurrences; an occurrence may show more than one style. Units: occurrences.
06Boom & fade
A Century of Active Mines
Mine features reporting an Active status in each
year, 1880–2024. The wartime and Korean-era stockpiling booms are plainly
visible. Units: active mine features.
Key Takeaways
Skarn & veins dominate. Tungsten skarn (35) and tungsten vein
(24) deposits account for 69% of all classified deposit
records.
The boom is long past. Active mines peaked at 42 in
1943; by 2024 the active count had fallen to zero.
Production is concentrated. The top five mines delivered
72% of all reported U.S. tungsten output — Pine Creek alone
produced 60,125 t W (41%).