Scheelite (CaWO₄) is the principle carrier of tungsten in the Eastern Alps occurring in different mineralization styles (strata-bound, skarn-type, orogenic Au-(W), etc.).
Studies involving fluorescence and cathodoluminescence (CL) have proven to be very useful revealing complex micro-textures and zoning in scheelite, which can be used for discriminating between scheelite from different
environments (Poulin et al., 2016).
This study compares scheelite from the economic W mine in Felbertal (Salzburg) with those from many smaller sub-economic W occurrences all over the Eastern Alps; i.e. from a broad spectrum of different mineralization styles.
This study is part of the "W Alps" project which reinvestigates the tungsten potential in the Eastern Alps using a combined analytical approach (CL, trace elements). CL studies show that scheelites from magmatichydrothermal settings (e.g. Felbertal, Lienz) may preserve a distinct primary zonation, whereas "metamorphic" scheelites lacking any obvious relation to granitoids (e.g. Tux) show rather homogeneous internal micro-textures. In the latter, deformation and metamorphic overprint resulted in specific cataclastic and recrystallisation textures as well as localized remobilization leading to formation of several generations of scheelite.