Abstract

Tungsten (W) is a metal with a wide range of uses, the largest of which is as tungsten carbide in cemented carbides. Cemented carbides (also called hardmetals) are wear-resistant materials used by the metalworking, mining, and construction industries. Tungsten metal wires, electrodes, and/or contacts are used in lighting, electronic, electrical, heating, and welding applications. Tungsten is also used to make heavy metal alloys for armaments, heat sinks, and high-density applications, such as weights and counterweights; superalloys for turbine blades; tool steels; and wear-resistant alloy parts and coatings. Tungsten composites are used as a substitute for lead in bullets and shot. Tungsten chemical compounds are used in catalysts, inorganic pigments, and high-temperature lubricants. Source: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/tungsten/

Author(s)

Kees Klein Goldewijk & Jonathan Fink-Jensen, Utrecht University

Production date

2014-11-1

Variable(s)

Tungsten mine production, in thousand metric tons

Keywords

Tungsten, Mine production, W

Time period

1860-2012

Geographical coverage

Worldwide

Methodologies used for data collection and processing

Data inventory

Period of collection

Data collectors

British Geological Survey (BGS) U.S. Bureau of Mines, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)


Good

General references

British Geological Survey, World Mineral Statistics, website: https://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/worldArchive.html (Last visited on: 13-11-2014).

Mitchell, B.R., International Historical Statistics - Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2005 (London, 2007).

Mitchell, B.R., International Historical Statistics - Europe (London, 2007).

Mitchell, B.R., International Historical Statistics - The Americas 1750-2005 (London, 2007).

Schmitz, Christopher J., World Non-Ferrous Metal Production and Prices, 1700-1976 (London, 1979).

U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States, website: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/historical-statistics/ (Last visited on: 13-11-2014).

Caribbean

Anguilla[No Data]

Antigua and Barbuda1500 (5)-2013 (21)

Aruba[No Data]

Bahamas1500 (5)-2013 (23)

Barbados1500 (5)-2016 (28)

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba[No Data]

British Virgin Islands[No Data]

Cayman Islands[No Data]

Cuba1500 (8)-2016 (35)

Curaçao[No Data]

Dominica1500 (5)-2016 (21)

Dominican Republic1500 (6)-2018 (38)

Grenada1500 (5)-2013 (21)

Guadeloupe[No Data]

Haiti1500 (6)-2018 (36)

Jamaica1500 (6)-2018 (35)

Martinique[No Data]

Montserrat[No Data]

In 2010, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded a subsidy to the Clio Infra project, of which Jan Luiten van Zanden was the main applicant and which is hosted by the International Institute of Social History (IISH). Clio Infra has set up a number of interconnected databases containing worldwide data on social, economic, and institutional indicators for the past five centuries, with special attention to the past 200 years. These indicators allow research into long-term development of worldwide economic growth and inequality.

Global inequality is one of the key problems of the contemporary world. Some countries have (recently) become wealthy, other countries have remained poor. New theoretical developments in economics - such as new institutional economics, new economic geography, and new growth theory - and the rise of global economic and social history require such processes to be studied on a worldwide scale. Clio Infra provides datasets for the most important indicators. Economic and social historians from around the world have been working together in thematic collaboratories, in order to collect and share their knowledge concerning the relevant indicators of economic performance and its causes. The collected data have been standardized, harmonized, and stored for future use. New indicators to study inequality have been developed. The datasets are accessible through the Clio Infra portal which also offers possibilities for visualization of the data. Clio Infra offers the opportunity to greatly enhance our understanding of the origins, causes and character of the process of global inequality.