Mechanically milled mixtures of wolframite and coke, coking coal or thermal coal have been characterized with DTA-TG, XRD and SEM techniques. Mixtures were milled with a planetary ball mill for 4 h and heated at 1000 oC or 1100 oC for 1 hr under argon gas. The mixtures with coke and coking coal contained WC and Fe3W3C whilst the mixture with thermal coal consisted of only Fe3W3C phase even after 1 hr calcination at 1100 oC. The amount of WC in the product from coke was higher than with coking coal. Thermal coal was not a suitable carbon source for forming WC by this route. Coke is considered the most preferable carbon source on preparation of WC in the carbothermic reduction of the wolframite.

Keywords: Wolframite, Coke, Coking coal, Thermal coal, Milling, Thermal reaction, Tungsten carbide