Astroneer Tungsten Guide: Where to Find Wolframite and Craft Recipes

Tungsten is a refined Astroneer resource tied directly to progression. It is needed for machines like the Chemistry Lab and Trade Platform, so learning where its base ore spawns saves a lot of wandering.

How to Get Tungsten

Tungsten is made by smelting Wolframite in a Smelting Furnace. To craft the furnace, use the Medium Printer with:

• 2x Resin
• 1x Compound

If the Medium Printer is not available yet, build it from the Small Printer with 2x Compound.

Wolframite is not found on every planet. It appears naturally on only two worlds:

• Calidor: Mountainous Biome and Mantle Layers
• Desolo: Cave Layers

Look for green-yellow clustered deposits, then gather them with the Terrain Tool. On Desolo, caves are the main place to search. On Calidor, check mountainous areas and deeper mantle layers.

A Trade Platform provides another route. Trade 3x Scrap to receive 2x Wolframite. This is useful later when scrap production is easier than another mining trip.

After gathering Wolframite, place it in the Smelting Furnace. Each Wolframite refines into 1x Tungsten.

Wolframite's in-game appearance does not match its real-world mineral look, so trust the Astroneer deposit shape and color rather than geology class memories.

Tungsten Crafting Uses

Tungsten supports several important recipes across different crafting stations.

Backpack Printer

• Floodlight: 1x Tungsten

Small Printer

• Medium Generator: 1x Tungsten and 1x Aluminum

Medium Printer

• Chemistry Lab: 1x Tungsten, 1x Glass, and 1x Ceramic
• Trade Platform: 1x Iron, 1x Tungsten, and 1x EXO Chip

Chemistry Lab

• Tungsten Carbide: 1x Tungsten and 1x Carbon

Tungsten can also open the EXO Dynamics Research Aid on Calidor, rewarding a large amount of Bytes.

One patch note oddity remains worth knowing: as of Patch 1.20.265, the bottom of the EXO Dynamics Research Aid capsule disappears after it is opened.