paratungstate en · NOUN
Etymology
From para- + tungstate.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Any of certain tungstates with certain ratios of tungsten atoms to the other atoms present, thus evoking certain chemical properties (e.g., degrees of solubility and precipitability).
The benchmark price for ammonium paratungstate – the white crystalline powder that is the standard intermediate stage that virtually all mined tungsten passes through before being refined into metal, carbide cutting tools, or missile-grade alloys – has risen 716% in a year. The price chart looks almost vertical. Russia, meanwhile, controls 46% of global uranium-enrichment capacity, a choke point that Western utilities are only now starting to engineer around.
2026 May 22, Nick Lawson, “How to invest in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan sits on one of the most extraordinary resource endowments on Earth. Should investors cash in?”, in MoneyWeek:PARATUNGSTATES. A number of acid tungstates have been isolated, the composition of which is expressed by one of the formulæ 3RO.7WO₃ or 5RO.12WO₃. The former formula was given by Lotz (A. 91, 49) and Scheibler (J. pr. 83, 273) ; the latter formula by Laurent (A. Ch. [3] 21, 54) and Marignac (A. Ch. [3] 69, 5). The two formulæ represent salts of almost identical composition, and no way has been found of deciding which formula is the better (cf. Knorre, J. pr. [2] 27, 83). The acid tungstates of this series are more easily formed and crystallise better than the other acid salts ; they are generally called paratungstates, following the suggestion made by Marignac. The alkali paratungstates are obtained by saturating hot alkali solutions with WO₃ and crystallising ; most of the other paratungstates are prepared by ppn. [precipitation] from solutions of the alkali salts. […] If the simpler (3:7) formula is adopted, the paratungstates are represented as 3Rᴵ₂O.7WO₃, 3RᴵᴵO.7WO₃, and Rᴵᴵᴵ₂O₃.7WO₃, i.e. as salts of the hypothetical acid H₁₀W₁₂O₄₁ […] ; if the less simple formula (5:12) is adopted, the paratungstates of monovalent and divalent metals are regarded as […]
1894, “[s.v.] paratungstates”, in Henry Watts, Matthew Moncrieff Pattison Muir, Henry Forster Morley, editors, Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry, volume 4, Longmans, Green, and Company, page 804:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| paratungstates | Number=Plur | lexicographic |