Is wolframite magnetic?
Slightly. The ferberite sheet says slightly magnetic; USGS pulled 4 wolframite samples at 0.10 to 0.60 amp. Cassiterite, the heavy tin mineral, did not move.
Slightly. Wolframite is the ferberite–hübnerite series, not an IMA species, and the Handbook ferberite sheet says slightly magnetic. USGS pulled 4 wolframite samples at 0.10 to 0.60 amp, best 0.40 to 0.50, paramagnetic by its definitions; magnetite came out at 0.01. Cassiterite, within 0.04 g of hübnerite by weight, stayed unpulled at 1.70 amp.
In short
- Two records, one word. The Handbook ferberite sheet says slightly magnetic; the hübnerite sheet prints no magnetic property. USGS Open-File Report 99-529, Table 1 pulled 4 wolframite samples at 0.10 to 0.60 amp, best 0.40 to 0.50. USGS calls ferromagnetic only what is strongly attracted to a magnet, like a piece of iron; wolframite falls in its paramagnetic range.
- Not a species name. A whole-line scan of the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC Master List finds 0 lines containing wolfram. The list carries ferberite, Fe2+(WO4), G, 1863, and hübnerite, Mn(WO4), G, 1865; each sheet says it forms a series with the other, and webmineral calls wolframite the group name for the series.
- The cassiterite split. Weight cannot tell wolframite from cassiterite, its associate on the scheelite and cassiterite sheets: a 20.00 g piece reads 17.13 to 17.15 g in water as cassiterite, 17.19 to 17.21 g as hübnerite and 17.36 g as ferberite. The separator can: Table 1’s total ranges put all 13 wolframite, ferberite and hübnerite samples out by 0.60 amp, and none of 6 cassiterite or 4 scheelite samples out at 1.70.
- Manganese pulls too, documented. Hübnerite has no iron in its formula and was pulled at 0.20 to 0.60 amp, best 0.30 to 0.40, beside ferberite’s 0.40. The magnet cannot place a crystal in the series; the sheets’ analyses, 99.2% iron at Kurasawa and 99.0% manganese in the Uncompahgre district, came from chemistry.
- What else comes out at 0.40 amp. Hematite, on the ferberite sheet’s associate list, best 0.10 to 0.30, and rhodochrosite, on hübnerite’s, best 0.20 to 0.40, both overlap wolframite’s total range. The general picture is on which minerals are magnetic.
| Mineral | IMA row | Handbook magnetic wording | USGS total range (amp) | USGS best range (amp) | Samples | 20.00 g piece in water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnetite * | Fe2+Fe3+2O4 | Strongly magnetic | Below 0.01 to 0.05 | 0.01 | 6 | 16.14 g |
| Wolframite | No row; series name | No sheet | 0.10 to 0.60 | 0.40 to 0.50 | 4 | - |
| Ferberite | Fe2+(WO4), G, 1863 | Slightly magnetic | 0.20 to 0.50 | 0.40 | 4 | 17.36 g |
| Hübnerite (USGS: huebnerite) | Mn(WO4), G, 1865 | None printed | 0.20 to 0.60 | 0.30 to 0.40 | 5 | 17.19 to 17.21 g |
| Hematite * (ferberite associate) | Fe2O3 | None printed | 0.025 to 0.50 | 0.10 to 0.30 | 11 | 16.20 g |
| Rhodochrosite (hübnerite associate) | Mn(CO3) | None printed | 0.10 to 0.60 | 0.20 to 0.40 | 5 | 14.59 g |
| Cassiterite (hübnerite associate) | SnO2 | None printed | Above 1.70 | Above 1.70 | 6 | 17.13 to 17.15 g |
| Scheelite (ferberite associate) | Ca(WO4) | None printed | Above 1.70 | Above 1.70 | 4 | 16.72 g |
| Arsenopyrite (hübnerite associate) | FeAsS | None printed | 1.00 to above 1.70 | Above 1.70 | 3 | 16.71 g |
| Topaz (associate of both) | Al2SiO4F2 | None printed | Above 1.70 | Above 1.70 | 3 | 14.27 to 14.40 g |
Is wolframite magnetic? The definition in one sentence
Wolframite is slightly magnetic: a laboratory separator pulls it at a fraction of an amp, but it is not ferromagnetic like magnetite. The Handbook ferberite sheet, the iron end of the series, says slightly magnetic. USGS Open-File Report 99-529 (Rosenblum and Brownfield) defines ferromagnetic minerals as strongly attracted to a magnet, like a piece of iron, naming magnetite, maghemite, pyrrhotite and pentlandite, and paramagnetic minerals as less magnetic, separable at field currents up to 1.70 amps, the highest a Frantz separator reached.
Measured. Table 1 lists wolframite with 4 samples: total range 0.10 to 0.60 amp, best range 0.40 to 0.50. The grains were 125 to 150 µm, run on a Frantz isodynamic separator with a 15° side tilt. Magnetite, on the same table, has a best range of 0.01 amp. Neither source tests a hand magnet, and this page does not predict one.
How far that agrees with the other pages. The same table and definitions are used on is ilmenite magnetic, is hematite magnetic, is chromite magnetic, is siderite magnetic and is millerite magnetic; their ladders, gaps and counts are not repeated here.
Wolframite is not a species: ferberite and hübnerite
Wolframite is a name for the ferberite–hübnerite series, not a species on the IMA list. A case-insensitive whole-line scan of the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC Master List finds 0 lines containing wolfram. The list has ferberite, Fe2+(WO4), G, 1863, Spain, and hübnerite, Mn(WO4), G, 1865, USA. The ferberite sheet says forms a series with hübnerite, the hübnerite sheet says forms a series with ferberite, and webmineral’s wolframite page calls wolframite the group name for the hübnerite–ferberite series, not approved by the IMA.
The two sheets. Ferberite: monoclinic, wedge-shaped crystals to 15 cm, perfect {010} cleavage, hardness 4 to 4.5, density 7.58, black, streak brownish black to black, slightly magnetic. Hübnerite: monoclinic, prismatic crystals to 15 cm, perfect {010} cleavage, hardness 4 to 4.5, density 7.12 to 7.18, yellowish brown to black, streak yellow to reddish brown or greenish grey, no magnetic property printed. Worked, FeWO4 is 60.54% tungsten and MnWO4 60.72%; the ferberite figure agrees with the Panasqueira locality page.
Table 1’s tungsten rows. A name search of Table 1 for all 52 IMA rows with tungsten in the formula finds ferberite, hübnerite (spelled huebnerite) and scheelite, plus the wolframite row: four tungsten rows in all.
The cassiterite split: where weight fails and the separator works
The cassiterite split: by weight cassiterite and wolframite are 0.04 g apart for a 20.00 g piece, while on the USGS separator every wolframite sample was out by 0.60 amp and no cassiterite sample by 1.70. Worked as 20 − 20/D on the sheets’ densities: cassiterite 6.98 to 7.01 reads 17.13 to 17.15 g in water, hübnerite 7.12 to 7.18 reads 17.19 to 17.21 g, ferberite 7.58 reads 17.36 g. The same figures are on scheelite, whose own check is not repeated. The method is on how to measure specific gravity at home.
The separator figures. Table 1’s total ranges: wolframite 0.10 to 0.60 (4 samples), ferberite 0.20 to 0.50 (4), hübnerite 0.20 to 0.60 (5); cassiterite above 1.70 (6) and scheelite above 1.70 (4). The cassiterite sheet names wolframite and scheelite among its associates, and the scheelite sheet names cassiterite and wolframite. Scheelite at 16.72 g is 0.41 g lighter than cassiterite by weight; on the separator both stay behind.
Why a laboratory figure, not a hand test. USGS says the data can be used in ore beneficiation and may help identification where other information is insufficient. It does not say a fridge magnet lifts wolframite, and this page does not either. Hardness also separates the pair on rough: cassiterite 6 to 7 on its sheet, ferberite and hübnerite 4 to 4.5 on theirs.
When the answer changes: manganese, associates and locked grains
Hübnerite has no iron in its formula and still pulls: a documented failure for any rule that says wolframite is magnetic because of its iron. USGS pulled 5 hübnerite samples at 0.20 to 0.60 amp, best 0.30 to 0.40, overlapping ferberite’s 0.20 to 0.50. The report says that, other than iron, only manganese and copper have been noted to affect minerals extracted in the paramagnetic range. Of the two series sheets, ferberite’s alone prints slightly magnetic.
The magnet cannot place a crystal in the series. The sheets’ analyses came from chemistry: the Kurasawa, Japan ferberite works out at 99.2% iron of iron plus manganese, and the Uncompahgre district, Colorado hübnerite at 99.0% manganese. The ferberite sheet says material approaching end-member composition is uncommon. A label reading wolframite (ferberite) or wolframite (hübnerite) needs an analysis behind it, as the Panasqueira page also says.
Associates and locked grains. hematite is on the ferberite sheet’s associate list, best 0.10 to 0.30, and rhodochrosite on hübnerite’s, best 0.20 to 0.40: both overlap wolframite’s total range, so a 0.40 amp fraction is not pure wolframite. USGS warns that micro-inclusions of magnetite make the lower limit of extraction hard or impossible to determine, and flags magnetite as often locked with other species. Its definitions reserve strongly attracted to a magnet for ferromagnetic minerals such as magnetite; the wolframite, ferberite and hübnerite rows are all in the paramagnetic range.
Where wolframite comes from, on the sheets
The ferberite sheet’s Distribution includes Panasqueira, Portugal; around Calstock and elsewhere in Cornwall, England; Pechtelsgrün and Zinnwald, Saxony; the Boulder Co. tungsten district, Colorado; and Kirwa, Kigezi, Uganda. The hübnerite sheet’s includes Wheal Gorland, Gwennap, and the Hingston Down quarry, Cornwall; the Huallapón mine, Pasto Bueno, Peru; and the Adams mine near Silverton, and Gladstone, San Juan Co., Colorado.
The setting. Ferberite occurs in high-temperature hydrothermal veins, greisens and granitic pegmatites, and residual in alluvial and eluvial deposits; hübnerite in high-temperature hydrothermal veins, greisen and granite pegmatites. The Cornish ground is on Cornwall and the Portuguese mine on Panasqueira.
Related questions. Scheelite’s fluorescence is on is scheelite fluorescent. The magnetic questions are indexed at the collecting guides. Nothing on this site is offered for sale; the wanted list is the only commercial route.