Crystallization
Nothing replaces tungsten — not in a cutting tip, not in a drill bit, not in an armour-piercing core — and ~80 % of output is one state's monopoly, with Chinese export curbs in place since 2023 and…
Technology brief
Nothing replaces tungsten — not in a cutting tip, not in a drill bit, not in an armour-piercing core — and ~80 % of output is one state's monopoly, with Chinese export curbs in place since 2023 and…
The challenge
Primary use cases: tungsten recovery from mine water and mine-drainage ponds — the water pumped continuously to keep mines dry; acid drainage streams such as Panasqueira (Portugal, discharging into the Zêzere river) and Nevada mine waters; salt-laden mine discharge in European river basins.
Outputs/uses: tungsten (~60 % of tungsten and alloys go to cutting tips and drill bits; defence uses are armour-piercing cores, ammunition, missiles); dry salt; copper; zinc; clean water returned; discharge and fines eliminated.
Industries and users: mining operators with dewatering circuits and tailings/drainage ponds; defence and tooling supply chains; regulators driving the EU zero-discharge requirement for 2027.
Scale: container-class modules placed directly at the pond; site cases modelled on streams of 1,000 m³/h (8.8 M m³/year).
ARBOK solution
Nothing replaces tungsten — not in a cutting tip, not in a drill bit, not in an armour-piercing core — and ~80 % of output is one state's monopoly, with Chinese export curbs in place since 2023 and prices up ~200 % since 2023. Tungsten is mined from ore, and there nothing changes. But part of it sits in mine water: already at the surface, still not called feedstock because nobody knows how to pull it out. That water is pumped round the clock to keep the mine dry, then dumped into ponds or straight into rivers, killing them — and it is not the water that kills but the copper, zinc and arsenic in it, together with the tungsten. Dissolved tungsten in drainage reaches 140 µg/L at Panasqueira (Portugal) and 337 µg/L in Nevada, against a fishery limit of 0.8 µg/L. ARBOK separates the whole stream at a pond: clean water, dry salt, and the metals — tungsten included — instead of a discharge. The operator today pays twice, the monopolist for tungsten and the state for discharge; ARBOK turns both into revenue.
> Core technology and architecture: see ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking). This entry covers the tungsten-specific feedstock, market, and economics.
ARBOK-ZWD deep-vacuum stream separation, run under deep vacuum. A module at the pond processes 100 % of what it takes: 100 m³ of mine water becomes 100 t of clean water plus 12 t of dry salt, and the salts and metals — tungsten included — are separated from one another; refining follows as a subsequent stage. No membranes, no filters, no chemicals.
Temperature: the process is not heated. It runs at the temperature of the incoming stream and of the surrounding environment; the range of ambient conditions observed across sites reflects local climate variability, not a setpoint, a mode or a technological window.
Why the incumbent alternative fails, per the source: reverse osmosis consumes 12–15 kWh/m³ and 60 % of the volume leaves as an even more toxic brine with nowhere to put it, while EU rules demand zero discharge by 2027.
Limitations carried from the source: tungsten in this route comes only from water already pumped to the surface — the ore side of tungsten production is untouched ("tungsten is mined from ore, and there you change nothing"). Tungsten is also the smallest revenue line in the site model, well behind salt; and the separated tungsten still requires a downstream refining stage that the source does not specify.
Market and application
Supply and pricing: China ~80 % of output, export curbs since 2023; APT in China $105,775/t, Rotterdam $3,100/mtu; prices up ~200 % since 2023; scrap covers only 30–35 % of Western demand. Tungsten valued at $150,700/t in the site economics model.
Demand: ~60 % of tungsten and alloys go to cutting tips and drill bits; defence takes armour-piercing cores, ammunition and missiles. Nothing replaces tungsten in these uses.
Adjacent driver — the water problem itself: Europe dumps ~4 M t of salts into its rivers every year, chlorides and sulphates leached from coal seams; damage in the Vistula basin runs up to $250 M a year; EU rules demand zero discharge by 2027 and reverse osmosis does not deliver it.
Geographies: Europe (Russia, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Portugal, Spain), USA/Canada (Appalachia, Berkeley Pit, hundreds of mines), Asia (Korea, China, Vietnam), Africa, Australia, Latin America.
Revenue is spread across several co-recovered streams from the same pond: dry salt is the dominant line by a wide margin, treated water contributes a substantial secondary line, copper and zinc are meaningful co-recovered metal credits, and tungsten — while the strategic driver of the case — is the smallest revenue line of the set. Energy is the whole of OPEX and is small relative to revenue.
Total ~$78 M/year from one pond, plus no discharge and no fines.
Business model: 15–20 year off-take paid per operation, or equipment sales with a 7-year payback in place of a standalone capital figure.
Use cases
Primary use cases: tungsten recovery from mine water and mine-drainage ponds — the water pumped continuously to keep mines dry; acid drainage streams such as Panasqueira (Portugal, discharging into the Zêzere river) and Nevada mine waters; salt-laden mine discharge in European river basins.
Outputs/uses: tungsten (~60 % of tungsten and alloys go to cutting tips and drill bits; defence uses are armour-piercing cores, ammunition, missiles); dry salt; copper; zinc; clean water returned; discharge and fines eliminated.
Industries and users: mining operators with dewatering circuits and tailings/drainage ponds; defence and tooling supply chains; regulators driving the EU zero-discharge requirement for 2027.
Scale: container-class modules placed directly at the pond; site cases modelled on streams of 1,000 m³/h (8.8 M m³/year).
The module is installed at the pond on a stream that the mine is already pumping for dewatering, and processes 100 % of its intake continuously, 24/7/365, over a 10–20 year service life. Target geographies named in the source: Europe (Russia, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Portugal, Spain); USA and Canada (Appalachia, Berkeley Pit, hundreds of mines); Asia (Korea, China, Vietnam); Africa; Australia; Latin America. Korea has one such mine — Sangdong.
Business model: 15–20 year off-take paid per operation; alternatively equipment sales with a 7 year payback.
Commissioning follows a standard sequence of site survey, module delivery and connection to the existing dewatering stream, with ramp-up to full continuous operation; the 24/7/365 regime is designed for minimal on-site staffing once the module is running.
Sits on the same acid mine drainage and mine-water streams as ARBOK-Indium (whole-stream vacuum separation on acid mine drainage) and ARBOK-Copper-Waters — copper and zinc are co-recovered lines in the tungsten site model. Same platform applied to mine waters for ARBOK-Rhenium and ARBOK-Molybdenum. The dry-salt output stream connects to salt-finishing covered by ARBOK-CRYSTALLIZER. Platform: ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking).
Nothing replaces tungsten — not in a cutting tip, not in a drill bit, not in an armour-piercing core — and ~80 % of output is one state's monopoly, with Chinese export curbs in place since 2023 and prices up ~200 % since 2023. Tungsten is mined from ore, and there nothing changes. But part of it sits in mine water: already at the surface, still not called feedstock because nobody knows how to pull it out. That water is pumped round the clock to keep the mine dry, then dumped into ponds or straight into rivers, killing them — and it is not the water that kills but the copper, zinc and arsenic in it, together with the tungsten. Dissolved tungsten in drainage reaches 140 µg/L at Panasqueira (Portugal) and 337 µg/L in Nevada, against a fishery limit of 0.8 µg/L. ARBOK separates the whole stream at a pond: clean water, dry salt, and the metals — tungsten included — instead of a discharge. The operator today pays twice, the monopolist for tungsten and the state for discharge; ARBOK turns both into revenue.
> Core technology and architecture: see ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking). This entry covers the tungsten-specific feedstock, market, and economics.
Primary use cases: tungsten recovery from mine water and mine-drainage ponds — the water pumped continuously to keep mines dry; acid drainage streams such as Panasqueira (Portugal, discharging into the Zêzere river) and Nevada mine waters; salt-laden mine discharge in European river basins.
Outputs/uses: tungsten (~60 % of tungsten and alloys go to cutting tips and drill bits; defence uses are armour-piercing cores, ammunition, missiles); dry salt; copper; zinc; clean water returned; discharge and fines eliminated.
Industries and users: mining operators with dewatering circuits and tailings/drainage ponds; defence and tooling supply chains; regulators driving the EU zero-discharge requirement for 2027.
Scale: container-class modules placed directly at the pond; site cases modelled on streams of 1,000 m³/h (8.8 M m³/year).
ARBOK-ZWD deep-vacuum stream separation, run under deep vacuum. A module at the pond processes 100 % of what it takes: 100 m³ of mine water becomes 100 t of clean water plus 12 t of dry salt, and the salts and metals — tungsten included — are separated from one another; refining follows as a subsequent stage. No membranes, no filters, no chemicals.
Temperature: the process is not heated. It runs at the temperature of the incoming stream and of the surrounding environment; the range of ambient conditions observed across sites reflects local climate variability, not a setpoint, a mode or a technological window.
Why the incumbent alternative fails, per the source: reverse osmosis consumes 12–15 kWh/m³ and 60 % of the volume leaves as an even more toxic brine with nowhere to put it, while EU rules demand zero discharge by 2027.
Limitations carried from the source: tungsten in this route comes only from water already pumped to the surface — the ore side of tungsten production is untouched ("tungsten is mined from ore, and there you change nothing"). Tungsten is also the smallest revenue line in the site model, well behind salt; and the separated tungsten still requires a downstream refining stage that the source does not specify.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Process | ARBOK-ZWD deep-vacuum stream separation |
| Vacuum | Run under deep vacuum |
| Temperature | Not heated; equals the temperature of the incoming stream and the environment. The range of ambient conditions observed across sites reflects local climate, not a setpoint |
| Stream coverage | 100 % of what the module takes |
| Mass balance | 100 m³ mine water → 100 t clean water + 12 t dry salt |
| Energy | Under 1 kWh/t — $0.08/t, against $2–2.5/t for reverse osmosis (RO itself: 12–15 kWh/m³) |
| Consumables | None — no membranes, no filters, no chemicals |
| Module class | Container-class unit sized for continuous mine-water throughput at the pond |
| Operating regime | 24/7/365 |
| Service life | 10–20 years |
| Feed — dissolved tungsten | Up to 140 µg/L (Panasqueira, Portugal); 337 µg/L (Nevada) |
| Feed — Panasqueira drainage chemistry | Strongly acidic; copper 42.7 mg/L; zinc 49.2 mg/L; arsenic 2,140 µg/L |
| Regulatory reference point | Fishery limit for tungsten 0.8 µg/L — exceeded hundreds of times |
Container-class ARBOK-ZWD module sized for continuous throughput, sited directly at the drainage or tailings pond and running 24/7/365 for 10–20 years. A deep-vacuum separation stage splits the incoming stream into clean water and dry salt while separating the salts and metals — tungsten, copper, zinc — from each other; a refining stage follows to bring the separated metals to product. No membranes, filters or chemical dosing, so there is no consumables train. The detailed component list of the base separation train is covered in the platform entry; the refining-stage configuration for tungsten follows established downstream metallurgical practice applied to the separated stream after the platform's core separation step.
Technical: takes tungsten from water that is already at the surface and already being pumped, so no new mining is required; separates salts and metals from one another rather than producing a mixed sludge; no membranes, filters or chemicals; unaffected by the brine dead-end that limits reverse osmosis, since 100 % of the intake is processed.
Economic: energy under 1 kWh/t at $0.08/t against $2–2.5/t for RO, and energy is the whole OPEX in the site model; the operator stops paying twice — the monopolist for tungsten and the state for discharge.
Environmental: no discharge and no fines; rivers stop receiving the copper, zinc, arsenic and tungsten load — strongly acidic Panasqueira drainage goes into the Zêzere today, and tungsten alone exceeds the 0.8 µg/L fishery limit hundreds of times; meets the EU zero-discharge requirement due in 2027, where RO leaves 60 % of the volume as a more toxic brine.
Strategic: breaks dependence on a supplier holding ~80 % of output under export curbs since 2023, in a market where scrap covers only 30–35 % of Western demand and there is no substitute for the metal.
Sits on the same acid mine drainage and mine-water streams as ARBOK-Indium (whole-stream vacuum separation on acid mine drainage) and ARBOK-Copper-Waters — copper and zinc are co-recovered lines in the tungsten site model. Same platform applied to mine waters for ARBOK-Rhenium and ARBOK-Molybdenum. The dry-salt output stream connects to salt-finishing covered by ARBOK-CRYSTALLIZER. Platform: ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking).
The module is installed at the pond on a stream that the mine is already pumping for dewatering, and processes 100 % of its intake continuously, 24/7/365, over a 10–20 year service life. Target geographies named in the source: Europe (Russia, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Portugal, Spain); USA and Canada (Appalachia, Berkeley Pit, hundreds of mines); Asia (Korea, China, Vietnam); Africa; Australia; Latin America. Korea has one such mine — Sangdong.
Business model: 15–20 year off-take paid per operation; alternatively equipment sales with a 7 year payback.
Commissioning follows a standard sequence of site survey, module delivery and connection to the existing dewatering stream, with ramp-up to full continuous operation; the 24/7/365 regime is designed for minimal on-site staffing once the module is running.
TRL 9 — assigned by Mikhail, 2026-08-06.
— the source post states no TRL for the tungsten configuration. The module life (10–20 years), continuous 24/7/365 regime and per-site economics are given as operating parameters of the ARBOK-ZWD platform; the platform status is held in ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking).
Supply and pricing: China ~80 % of output, export curbs since 2023; APT in China $105,775/t, Rotterdam $3,100/mtu; prices up ~200 % since 2023; scrap covers only 30–35 % of Western demand. Tungsten valued at $150,700/t in the site economics model.
Demand: ~60 % of tungsten and alloys go to cutting tips and drill bits; defence takes armour-piercing cores, ammunition and missiles. Nothing replaces tungsten in these uses.
Adjacent driver — the water problem itself: Europe dumps ~4 M t of salts into its rivers every year, chlorides and sulphates leached from coal seams; damage in the Vistula basin runs up to $250 M a year; EU rules demand zero discharge by 2027 and reverse osmosis does not deliver it.
Geographies: Europe (Russia, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Portugal, Spain), USA/Canada (Appalachia, Berkeley Pit, hundreds of mines), Asia (Korea, China, Vietnam), Africa, Australia, Latin America.
Revenue is spread across several co-recovered streams from the same pond: dry salt is the dominant line by a wide margin, treated water contributes a substantial secondary line, copper and zinc are meaningful co-recovered metal credits, and tungsten — while the strategic driver of the case — is the smallest revenue line of the set. Energy is the whole of OPEX and is small relative to revenue.
Total ~$78 M/year from one pond, plus no discharge and no fines.
Business model: 15–20 year off-take paid per operation, or equipment sales with a 7-year payback in place of a standalone capital figure.
Tungsten is a minor revenue line: ~$0.45 M against ~$63 M of salt in the same site model, so the project stands or falls on the salt and water economics, not on the metal — the tungsten case is strategic rather than financial at site level.
Ore side untouched: this route reaches only tungsten already dissolved in pumped water; primary ore production is unaffected, so the volume ceiling is set by mine-dewatering flows.
Feed concentration variability: 140 µg/L at Panasqueira against 337 µg/L in Nevada — more than a twofold spread between two named sites.
Refining stage: the separated tungsten requires a downstream refining step whose configuration is not specified in the source.
Monopoly and price: ~80 % Chinese output with export curbs since 2023 and a ~200 % price move since 2023 — the same conditions that create the case also make the revenue model volatile; the source quotes two price bases (APT China $105,775/t, Rotterdam $3,100/mtu) and a third valuation of $150,700/t used in the economics.
Regulatory timing: the business case leans on the EU zero-discharge deadline of 2027; slippage in that rule weakens the discharge-cost side of the model.
Zinc and capital cost are carried at the aggregate level in the site model rather than broken out as standalone lines, so sensitivity to either cannot be isolated from the figures given here.
ARBOK-Indium · ARBOK-Copper-Waters · ARBOK-Rhenium · ARBOK-Molybdenum · ARBOK-CRYSTALLIZER · ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking)
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